


It's Decent Enough

by PretentiousSwanQueen



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-18
Updated: 2013-08-18
Packaged: 2017-12-23 21:01:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/931053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PretentiousSwanQueen/pseuds/PretentiousSwanQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lizzie Bennet is less than enthused with the barista, Darcy, at Netherfields coffee shop which does not bode well for the novel she has to write to complete her MFA. Jane however is enthralled with Bing and thus begins the Lizzie Bennet Diaries told from a coffee shop AU verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Decent Enough

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is written as a birthday present for the lovely Katie C, or alsokatie on tumblr! This may not be my OTP but I hope that you enjoy your coffee shop AU and your porn, seeing as how your fandom seems to be lacking in both categories. Best wishes!

“Lizzie dear, you like coffee right?” Mrs. Bennet’s voice pierced through the thin veil of sleep that clung to Lizzie like a sheath.

“Nrgh?” Lizzie managed, blinking the exhaustion from her eyes.

Mrs. Bennet huffed as she tried to wrench Lizzie out from the nest of blankets she insisted to have heaped on her bed. How she was ever going to have enough room in her bed for a man was a thought that plagued Mrs. Bennet frequently. “Coffee. We’re getting some now.”

Lizzie shivered as her skin was exposed to the cool morning air. “Why now?” she asked, her words still garbled from a yawn.

“Because dear, it’s the morning and that’s what ordinary people do in the morning.”

“And since when have we become ordinary people?” Lizzie said, fighting off another yawn.

Mrs. Bennet paused from her search of Lizzie’s wardrobe. “Since the new coffee shop opened just down the block and since I felt like my daughters should actually get up at a decent hour.”

“There’s another new coffee shop? Didn’t we just get one? Isn’t it called Neanderthal or something weird like that?” Lizzie asked, wandering over to join her mother at her closet.

“Of course there’s not another new coffee shop. Do you actually notice anything that’s not in that little head of yours? Your father has finally went round and paid a visit to Netherfields, that’s what it’s called dear, so we can finally go there in a socially acceptable manner.” Mrs. Bennet rolled her eyes and handed Lizzie a dress. “Put this on and make yourself presentable. I have to go wake up Lydia.”

Lizzie laughed after a pause, when her mouth finally caught up with her brain. “Good luck with that. She was out pretty late last night and who knows if it was studying or partying with her.”

Her mother adjusted the pearls around her neck and stalked out of Lizzie’s bedroom with purpose. Lizzie shook her head and looked down at the dress draped across her arms. It was one of her nicer ones, a black number shrouded with ruffles across the generous v-neckline. What sort of occasion could possibly merit the necessity for a little black dress in a coffee shop? She hardly had a chance to shuck off her striped sleep shorts and contemplate the matter before her older sister Jane rapped gently on her bedroom door.

“Mom got to you too, huh?” Jane said, taking the black dress of its hanger and smoothing out the wrinkles. Jane was dressed to impress as well, modeling a smart taupe dress and donning a black sunhat.

Lizzie sighed as she wrenched off her nightshirt. “I don’t get what all the fuss is for. We are just getting coffee, right?”

“Lizzie, do you honestly not remember? This is THE coffee shop that mom has been hounding dad about for the past two weeks,” she explained as she helped Lizzie find her black strapless bra.

She turns around to look at Jane, a gasp dropping from her lips. “Wait, THE coffee shop? The one with the wealthy and handsome and single gentleman? Oh god,” she says, fumbling with her bra hooks. “I should have known this was all an elaborate scheme.”

Jane pursed her lips as she swats Lizzie’s hand away and fixes up the back of her lingerie. “You make it sound so bad! You know mom is just trying to help, right?”

“Help? You call her meddling meddlesome ways of trying to set up an arranged marriage for her daughters help?” Lizzie huffed as she stepped into her dress and Jane zipped up the back. “Need I remind you of the 2.5 WPF club?”

“The club you claim mom is the president of? Come on Lizzie, it’s not so bad. You know she only wants what’s best for us, right?” Jane said, searching around for Lizzie’s comb. She steered Lizzie into her desk chair and propped her up as she snatched a comb from her sister’s dresser.

Lizzie sighed again, relaxing back into Jane’s hand as she ran the comb through her dark red hair. “It’s not that what she wants for us is bad. It’s just,” Lizzie struggled to find the words to express the discomfort she felt from her mother trying to be the perfect wingman. “It’s just that we all have our own mistakes to make. What if we don’t even need husbands? For all I know, I’m perfectly well suited to be a strong and independent woman who can fend for herself.”

Jane just smiled as she gathered up a section of Lizzie’s hair in a fishtail braid. “I think she just wants us to be happy. And if nothing else, coffee makes you happy right? Helps you focus on your writing?”

Lizzie smiled grudgingly too. “Well yes, I suppose it does. That’s still not entirely the point though.” She stood up and slipped into her black gladiator sandals. “Setting me up on blind dates is supposed to be your job, or Charlotte’s. Not mom’s job. But nevertheless, if I don’t get decent coffee soon, I will crash and burn.”

Laughing, Jane looped her arm through her sisters as they headed out of Lizzie’s well-kept room. By now they could hear the boisterous clanging about coming from Lydia’s room across the hall and her frustrated moans about not being able to find a missing flip flop. Their mother looked positively radiant and was beaming up at her daughters impatiently from the foot of the stairs.

“You do realize mom that coffee shops are generally open most of the day, right?” Lizzie asked as she perched on the highest step to wait for Lydia, Jane settling in beside her.

Her mother scoffed and rolled her eyes. “It won’t be open all day if Charlotte Lu is set to marry the barista before the day is out, now would it?”

Lizzie gave Jane a pointed look, conveying her sentiments about their mother’s crazed antics but all Jane could do was roll her eyes and get up gingerly to go see if Lydia needed help getting prepared. Lizzie headed down the staircase, brushing past her mother who was literally bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement, and headed into the kitchen. Her father was stooped over the morning newspaper and his bowl of Cheerios. All he had to do was look at Lizzie and she knew that he was on her side.

Wordlessly, he handed over her laptop and writing portfolio from its spot on the kitchen table. “The almond biscotti at Netherfields is divine.”

Hoisting her laptop bag over her shoulder, Lizzie gave her dad a wan look. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind for the wedding preparations.”

“You always were the practical one.” Her dad laughed before patting Lizzie affectionately on her forearm. “The library is right next door. Get your coffee and biscotti and flee. But don’t tell your mother I said that.”

“A writer never reveals her secrets.” Lizzie remarked before slowly ambling towards the front door. If only she could have woken up this morning feeling like P. Diddy and not like a manipulated 24 year old who has to please and satisfy the marital whims of her barmy mother. Today could have been so much more pleasant.

~~~

“What did you say this guy’s name was?” Jane inquired, turning to Lydia.

“Well, when mom had me stake out the area a few days ago, I caught whiff of a Bing Lee. It’s totes adorbs for your new husband, right?” Lydia shot her hyperextended elbow in Lizzie’s face in order to high-five Jane.

Jane blushed, pushing her red wavy hair behind her ear. “Lydia! I haven’t even met him yet and you want him to be my husband?”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “I’m not the only one here thinking that sis. I mean, look at mom. She’s itching to send out the wedding invites already.”

“How do we even know that Bing doesn’t already have a girlfriend?” Lizzie said. “Or what if he’s gay? What if he’s a serial killer? I mean, gay serial killers might kind of be a turn-off.”

“Oh my god Lizzie, he’s not gay!” Lydia smacked her hand on the back of Lizzie’s head. “I saw him, I should know.”

They three of them stopped a safe distance behind their mother as they waited for the stop light to change color. Not used to being up at this ungodly hour, Lizzie marveled at all the early morning commuters going off to work at prestigious businesses and being productive all the while she was being herded off to a café like some prize-winning mare.

After the light turned green, they waited a few seconds for Mrs. Bennet to get ahead of them and Lydia resumed her tales of Bing Lee. “Well, when I said I saw him, it really was only like the back of his head, but still. The back of his head was clearly very not gay.”

“Lydia!” Jane exclaimed, trying to reprimand her little sister with one of her looks. “It doesn’t matter what his sexual orientation is. I’m sure he is just going to be another normal person.”

“Normal. Sure.” Lydia snorts. “Although I’m not sure I can say so much about Bing Lee’s friend.”

“He has a friend?” Lizzie gasped. “Does mom realize this?”

“I seriously doubt it. I mean, didn’t you notice she’s totally just wearing her pearl necklace? She would have thrown on her pearl earrings too if she thought two of us were snagging eligible bachelors today.” Lydia said with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Well little Miss Nancy Drew here certainly knows her facts.” Jane remarked, smiling.

“I try,” Lydia flipped her fiery red hair over her shoulder. “Anyways. I was saying. Bing’s friend. Not sure about his sexuality, the only thing I know is that his name is Darcy.”

“Darcy?” Lizzie blurted out, almost tripping over a crack in the sidewalk. “Really? Just that? Is that a first name, a last name, a dubstep DJ name?”

Their speculations came to a halt as Lizzie nearly walked into her mother who was standing stock-still in the middle of the sidewalk.

“We’re here, girls,” she said, clutching her pearls and her heart before stepping into the doorway.

~~~

If Lizzie wasn’t certain if Bing Lee was really that wealthy on the short walk it took to get to Netherfields, she certainly had no shadow of doubt left in her mind now. Netherfields wasn’t your typical San Francisco hipster college coffee shop. To start off, there was real furniture that actually matched instead of the eclectic patio furniture and curbside couches that usually adorned campus cafes. Although Lizzie was hardly a furniture connoisseur, she was almost certain that the tables and chairs were carved from real mahogany.

The whole coffee shop was blanketed with rich tones of scarlet, navy, and copper. Bookcases bursting with old elaborate tomes covered all four walls of the room and there was a cozy niche by the bakery displays full of plush corduroy couches and armchairs for customers to lounge in. Despite the circumstances under which she was brought here, Lizzie couldn’t help but fall a little in love with the atmosphere itself despite its conceived notions.

Lizzie and Jane then felt forceful prodding along their backs. Their mother had sunken her claws into their skin and was trying to push them up to the front counter in order to propose to the barista immediately. Lizzie turned around to glare at Mrs. Bennet but all she got in return was an equally vengeful stare. She couldn’t help but lament the fact that her family was born in the wrong century. This sort of obsession over proper marriages and good husbands would have been more suited a century ago.

Reluctantly, Lizzie stepped into the queue after Jane and looked up at the menu. She nodded her appreciation over the fact that it was hand written and in cursive. Looking at the employees, she decided that it had to be the penmanship of the curvy, raven-haired girl who was currently scoffing near the espresso machine. Although darling, it didn’t seem likely that it was the kind gentlemen trying to help Jane decide on a tea flavor or the other guy lurking by the scones and bagels who had a scowl on his square face.

“So we’ve decided on a chai tea latte, then?” the man helping Jane beamed at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Lizzie heard her mother hyperventilating over her daughter’s interaction; she could see her already mapping out how to incorporate how Jane and Bing first met in the wedding photo and video collage that would be playing at their wedding reception. Lizzie hung her head low and tried hard not to groan out in frustration.

Jane’s laughter broke through Lizzie’s reverie. “Yes, that would be lovely,” she was telling Bing. “And perhaps a snickerdoodle cookie, too. Those look wonderful!”

“Sure thing,” the barista nodded, reaching over for a cup. “And your name then?”

“Jane,” she said with a blush.

“Well then Jane, I’ll be right back with your order. Do you want the cookie warmed up?”

“Yes please, that would be nice.”

Jane turned to Lizzie with wide, doe eyes. “Isn’t he just wonderful? I mean, what gentleman ever thinks to warm up a cookie? It’s one of those simple, little things that really makes the world an extra special place and it’s just so thoughtful.”

“You like him even though mom practically hooked the two of you up through an arranged marriage?” Lizzie said, not keen on her sister’s enraptured tone. To anyone else, Jane sounds just like her usual, polite self, but Lizzie has known how to interpret Jane’s gracious tone over years of practice. She really sounded beside herself with Bing, which is exactly what their mother had wanted. Not that it was a bad thing, but it wasn’t exactly a good thing to be playing into their mother’s whims like that either.

“Are you ready to order or do you merely enjoy spending time in queues?” The scowling guy was vying for Lizzie’s attention.

“Um, yeah. I’m all set to order.” Lizzie said, somewhat affronted. She peered down at his nametag. Darcy. So this was the illustrious stranger who may or may not be gay according to Lydia. His fashion indicated he could really swing either way, his plaid bowtie and suspenders somehow suited him despite the fact that he seemed about as old as Lizzie was, if not a year or so older. “I’ll have a tall coffee, black.”

“You take your coffee black, huh?” Darcy’s strangely robotic voice said. “I would have thought you would be one who choked it off with a mountain of sugar and a river of cream.”

Lizzie tried not to look offended as she handed over a five dollar bill. “Um, nope. Not really my thing. I prefer it black, like my soul.”

The scathing look on Darcy’s face made her instantly regret her last words. Apparently he was not one to make lighthearted jokes to. “And, uh, I think I’ll take an almond biscotti as well. Heard they were pretty good.”

Darcy’s pupils bore into hers for a few awkward seconds before he reached for a to-go cup for her coffee. “Your name?”

“Lizzie. Uh, thanks.”

He mumbled something incoherently before turning over his shoulder to find Bing by the bakery display. “I need an almond biscotti, Bing.”

“Aw man, there’s only one left. It looks like it might break.” Bing told him. “But the next batch is coming out of the oven in a few minutes!”

“Nah. Bring it here. It’ll be decent enough for,” Darcy paused as he looked down at the cup in his hand. “Lizzie. It’ll be fine.”

Lizzie nearly scoffed at the interaction. While she may not be like Jane who swoons over the promise of warmed snickerdoodle cookies, she still had enough social grace to be miffed that a nearly broken biscotti would be decent enough for someone Darcy couldn’t even remember the name of. It took all of her might not to fling the scalding hot coffee right back in Darcy’s face the moment he handed over her cup. But Lizzie knew that she shouldn’t. If not for the sake of having a decent first impression at Netherfields, she would do it for Jane who might actually have to put up with Darcy for the sake of getting to know Bing. No. Lizzie took her coffee with dignity and snatched up her biscotti before stalking to the exit.

“I’m going to the library,” she said over her shoulder to her mother. She’s not so sure that she heard, however. She seemed to be too busy telling Bing that she would love to bake him a pie for opening up such a nice coffee shop so close to their home. Lizzie rolled her eyes as the little bells over the door tinkled to announce her departure.

As soon as Lizzie sat down in a private study room in the library, the almond biscotti broke cleanly into two, as promised by Bing.

~~~

Lizzie was used to writing in all sorts of conditions and variables before – it was practically part of her education. By pursuing her graduate school dream of earning her Master of Fine Arts certificate, long arduous hours spent drafting theses and literature was almost second nature. But sitting in the library after that condemning visit to Netherfields for coffee, Lizzie couldn’t shake off the writer’s block.

Not that this has never happened before, but typically the writer’s block came at times where the pressure on her wasn’t this high. She was almost upon her final semester at university and her final thesis and novel project were weighing on her heart and brain. Feeling lost and vulnerable, Lizzie did what any desperate woman would do. She called her best friend. Well, best friend besides her sister Jane. But Lizzie presumed Jane was still tastefully enjoying her time at Netherfields and didn’t wish to interrupt her.

Her phone call almost went through to voicemail, but luckily her call was picked up. “Charlotte!”

There was groaning at the other end of the line. “Uh, hey there Lizzie. Do you even know what time it is?”

“Time for us to talk? Or no, wait,” Lizzie peered down at her wristwatch. “Oh my god. Is it really only 7:12?”

“Yes, Lizzie. Indeed it is.”

“Well, um. Sorry then? I guess?” Lizzie winced. “I can call you back later?”

There was a muffled sigh at the other end of the line. “No, no. Talk now. I promise I’ll try to stay awake. What’s up?”

“There are a lot of things up,” Lizzie started to ramble as she felt the coffee trickling through her veins and kicking her action potential into high gear. “I mean, first of all there was my mother waking up me and my sisters to go get coffee at the arse crack of dawn this morning and then there was Bing who seems absolutely lovely but then there was this absolute douchebag Darcy and now I have writer’s block and did you know that if my senior theses and project get rejected these last three years of grad school have been for naught and I will have willing dug myself into crippling debt and depression of which I will never recover?”

Lizzie had to pause to catch her breath and inhale more coffee and some of the delicious albeit damaged almond biscotti.

“Lizzie, I’m just going to warn you: I literally just woke up three minutes ago. Your long-winded speech was nice, but I only caught one out of every 20 words you said.” Lizzie could practically visualize Charlotte raising a judgmental eyebrow at her.

“Oh, right. Well, you see, I’ve had all this coffee,” Lizzie started.

“Yes, from some douche named Darcy, right? And then something about writer’s block. That’s all I got.”

“Well, those are the mostly important things. Any advice?”

Lizzie heard Charlotte shifting around in bed as she contemplated her life’s dilemmas. “Well as far as the dickhead goes, avoid him? I don’t know what else to say. Maybe he just wasn’t a morning person?”

“That may well be the understatement of the year. Did I mention that he talks like a robot? Seriously, this guy has no emotion.”

Charlotte chuckled. “Sure Lizzie. I bet he was just programmed not to have a heart. His interface probably has some bugs, hugs probably don’t compute in Darcy bot’s mind. I shouldn’t be encouraging this, never mind! You said something about writer’s block?”

“Charlotte, don’t try and deny it. You are totally on my side with this Darcy bot guy. Just be careful that he doesn’t ever spit in your coffee if you go to Netherfields.”

“I’ll keep a close eye on him. Anyways, about the writing thing. Have you ever tried just having a blog? I mean, I know it’s not as professional as the papers and theses you have to do and it’s not quite like your final novel project, but maybe just to get everything out?” Charlotte suggested, yawning at the end from saying so much so early in the morning.

“You think that would really help?” Lizzie asked.

“Of course! Diaries are very helpfully in just getting people to write; a blog is like the next step up to that. Think of it as the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a blog where you can certainly practice all of your fancy writing styles and techniques but also a place to just write about whatever.”

“Sounds very therapeutic. I’ll give it a go.” Lizzie agreed. “But I can’t just put raw material like that out on the internet, it feels so vulnerable. Do you think that maybe you’d want to beta my posts, just for grammar and content?”

Charlotte gave a small sigh before agreeing and hanging up to go back to sleep. Lizzie cracked her knuckles and got to work.

~~~

Lizzie wandered unwillingly back home hours later after having successfully creating a blog post but doing nothing about her actual schoolwork. If nothing else though, it felt good to vent her feelings to the internet and not to Jane and Charlotte who usually told her she was overreacting and to simply calm down. Lizzie was not a calm person by nature and rather liked spatting with whoever would take her up on the challenge and have an opinion. Hopefully through the course of her blogging she would find solace with this need to be opinionated and to critique.

Walking past the kitchen, Lizzie hears her mother cooing to the green beans about how happy she is for her darling Jane and what a lovely couple her and Bing will make. Lizzie slinks past unnoticed and bolts for the stairs. Sometimes Mrs. Bennet was just too much to handle with all of her delusions. She found Jane’s door propped open, so she rapped lightly on it before stepping inside and seeing her sister working on some of her fashion projects.

“So, how’s my favorite sister doing after her engagement celebration this morning?” Lizzie asked, perching herself on the corner of Jane’s quilted bedspread.

“Hey!” Lydia shouted from across the hall. “I heard that! We all know that I’m the favorite.”

Jane smiled sweetly before giving Lizzie the same doe-eyed expression from the coffee shop. “Oh Lizzie, Bing is just the sweetest guy around.”

“Even though his involvement in your life was endorsed by your own mother?” Lizzie verified.

Jane sighed before rolling her eyes. “Yes Lizzie, even if mom approved long before I even met Bing, I would still find him to be equally as lovely.”

“And the warmed up snickerdoodle cookie, was that equally as lovely too?”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous Lizzie. It almost makes me regret fixing the buttons on that gray cardigan of yours.” Jane said.

“Really? You fixed that already?” Lizzie asked. Jane simply tossed the sweater at her and smiled.

“I’ll have you know, Bing brought the cookie out to me himself – mom made me go and sit on one of the couches all by myself. He sat down next to me and we started to talk and it was just really nice.”

“Jane, I’m happy for you. Even if mom approves, I’m still happy.”

Jane laughed. “You are a real piece of work. But anyways, it turns out it’s Bing’s parents that own the coffee shop and Bing wanted to help them out even though he’s in the middle of grad school right now. Did you know that he’s studying to be a doctor? All he cares about is helping people.”

“He sure sounds like a fine upstanding gentleman. Scads better than his friend. Can you even believe Darcy?” Lizzie said.

“I’ll admit, Darcy wasn’t exactly the softest teddy bear of the bunch, but Bing did say it was his first day on the job. I think you were the only customer he managed to serve.” Jane tried to say in her very sweet and very professional tone.

“You can’t honestly be defending Darcy!” Lizzie raged, pounding her fist down on the comforter. “Especially not the best bit where I got decent enough bakery and the fact that he seems to have the emotional functions of a robot.”

“Oh Lizzie, it wasn’t that terrible. Netherfields is still a very nice place! I know for a fact dad told you the almond biscotti was good, so I know you liked it too.” Jane went on.

“Why are you trying to make Netherfields sound all great and lovely? I mean, I know you like it and all because of Bing, but it doesn’t matter if I ever have to go back.” Lizzie pointed out. “Unless--”

“Lizzie before you say anything, know that my intentions are only good!” Jane tried to interject as Lizzie saw straight through her words and deceptions.

“You want me to go back there with you!” Lizzie gasped.

Jane looked at her sheepishly. “Maybe?”

“You do realize that you are a perfectly capable human being who can go into any coffee shop she likes and hang out there no matter who may be working, right?”

“I know Lizzie, I really do! It’s just, what if Bing really doesn’t like me like that?” Jane started.

“Doesn’t like you like that? Jane, were you there for the part where he explained to you all about the different teas and told you his favorite and asked you about your interests and he warmed up a cookie for you?” Lizzie said, exasperated. “He seems pretty keen on you.”

Jane looked up at her sadly, eyes big and shining. “Just once more Lizzie, please? You liked working at the library right next door, right? You’ll be fine.”

Lizzie could hardly bear to look at her sister’s face a moment longer without feeling her will and resolve crumbling. “Fine, fine. I’ll go. Just promise that you won’t let mom interfere with things. You know how she gets. I’d hate to see Bing get scared away.”

Jane let out a sigh of relief. “You have no idea how much this means to me, Lizzie. Truly. And I promise we don’t have to go to Netherfields until a decent hour tomorrow. Nine o’clock at least.”

Lizzie smiled. “All right. Sounds like a plan.” 

As Lizzie was leaving the room Jane called out, “Did you know mom actually fist-pumped her arm in the air when we left the café?”

Lizzie sighed. At least she would have plenty to talk about on her blog.

~~~

“Ah, back again.” Darcy paused, probably trying to remember her name. “Lizzie.”

She smiled civilly as she nodded. “Yep. Just here for my sister Jane.”

“That’s, uh, rather nice of you. To come here with your sister, that is. Very nice indeed.” Darcy choked out, his robotic voice seeming to stutter on words that conveyed feelings and emotions. “Would you like coffee again?”

“Um, yeah actually. Coffee sounds nice.”

Darcy nodded curtly before turning around and brewing a fresh pot of coffee. Lizzie used this time to unabashedly appreciate his features, or at least analyze them. He was decked out in another bowtie, this one a striped pattern and he was wearing an honest to god newsie hat. He was built with clean lines and lean muscle, like he could have been an athlete but instead he probably spent his afternoons concocting ways to harm innocent children and the best ways to kick kittens.

“You like it black, right?”

“Yeah. That’d be great.”

Lizzie didn’t even dare order bakery this time. She quickly skittered away from Darcy before he could be rude and robotic, waved a quick goodbye to Jane, and ran out the doorway, the bells tingling after her on the way to the library.

The same guy was working the front desk at the library. “Back again so soon?” he asked.

Sighing, Lizzie nodded. “Is there a study room available?”

“Sure thing. Just sign the log right here,” he said, handing her a document, “and we’ll be all set.”

“Thanks.” Lizzie said, signing her name with a flourish. It was never too early to start working on her author signature.

“All right, catch you soon Lizzie B!” the guy said, squinting at the piece of paper. Lizzie glanced at his name tag. ‘Fitz,’ it read. Thank god there were nicer people than Darcy in the world.

~~~

Jane bombarded Lizzie with a fresh mug of tea before she could hardly make it through the front door after her day at the library.

“It’s so nice to see you! How was your day? Isn’t the library just the best place for you to write? I bet your morning coffee also helps, doesn’t it?” Jane babbled, smoothing out Lizzie’s hair and plucking a few stray strands from her top.

“Jane,” Lizzie interrupted. “Is there something that you want?”

“Want? Why would I ever want everything? I have all that I need right here. A home, two caring parents, two lovely sisters, the air in my lungs. No, no, I don’t really want anything.”

“Jane.” Lizzie gave her a disbelieving look.

Finally Jane’s resolve crumpled. “You should just come get coffee with me every morning. I mean, it’s on the way to the fashion office for me and you seem to get on so well in that library, although you should really try sitting in those comfy chairs at Netherfields, they are simply divine…”

Lizzie drew in a deep breath. Her sister Jane, unlike Lydia, hardly ever asked for anything. If she was asking for her to come with her to get coffee, she must actually really care about Bing. If that’s what it took for the kindest person in the world to be happy, then it would hardly be fair for Lizzie to say no. “Oh, all right.”

Jane enveloped her in a hug, mindful of the mug of hot tea and allowed her access to the stairway so she could collapse in her room.

Of course, before she got there, Lydia managed to intercept her near the top of the stairs. “Getting coffee with Jane and Bing then?” she said with a smirk.

“Don’t forget the douche robot Darcy, he’s always there too.” Lizzie responded.

“Of course we can’t forget about Darcy bot. But hey, if you’re going to be at the library again all day, you should totes let me use your car.” Lydia pursed her lips in an attempt to look extra cute and adorable.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “You do know that mom took away your car privileges for a reason, right?”

“Yeah, a stupid and stuffy reason. All I know is you’ll be busy doing all of your stupid research stuff and writing and your car will just be sitting in the parking lot all abandoned looking and sad and I can make it feel so much better. Really, it would be my pleasure.” Lydia threw in a manic grin for emphasis.

“I don’t know Lydia, I mean I’m not actually planning on being at the library for long tomorrow and--”

Before she could go much further, Lydia cut in. “Even though Jane may be the nicest sister, you still owe me a favor if you keep on going to Netherfields for her. Just to even things out between us sisters.”

Lizzie frowned at her logic but realized that she was probably trapped. “Fine, I’ll let you borrow my car. But you do have to behave at the library for at least an hour first, you know. Maybe actually do some of your schoolwork instead of just asking Mary for all the answers.”

Lydia hugged her briefly before giving her a minor glare. “Of course I do all my schoolwork!”

Rolling her eyes, Lizzie plowed her way to the top of the steps. “Sure you do. And Darcy is not a heartless robot. It’s all the same to me.”

She shut her door and flopped on her bed and hoped that her writer’s block would evade her. While writing a blog was liberating, her final novel loomed over her like a perpetual thunderstorm. Something had to give.

~~~

“Lizzie. Hello. I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” Darcy told her when she opened the door to Netherfields the next morning.

“Well, Jane seems to like it here and I need coffee in the mornings, so here we are.” Lizzie said politely. If Darcy didn’t want to see her on a regular basis, he didn’t really have to announce it so publically.

“I’ll get you a cup of coffee then.”

And like that the conversation was over. It was nothing like Bing who would always showcase the wonders of the bakery display and describe a new type of tea he’s absolutely positive Jane would like and everything else there is to talk about under the sun. There really are two types of people in this world – the fine, upstanding gentlemen like Bing and the cold hearted robots like Darcy that would end up forever alone or just plain miserable with whatever woman he ended up with.

But before her and Lydia could flee for the sanctuary of the library, Darcy had to open up his mouth to speak again in his monotone voice.

“Where is it you go after you drop Jane off here?” he asked, affixing the lid on top of Lizzie’s coffee.

Lizzie had to stop and think for a second. Was Darcy trying to initiate small talk? Darcy bot no compute human interaction. “Just to the library. It’s a nice quiet place to work.”

“What is it that you do?” Darcy was on a roll with his people skills this morning.

“I’m in the process on working on my final senior theses and novel for my MFA certificate.” Lizzie said, proud to finally be almost done with grad school on her way to being the writer she always dreamed of.

“An MFA? That’s Master of Fine Arts, is it not?” Darcy bot asked clinically.

“That it is.” Lizzie said, reaching for the cup of coffee waiting in Darcy’s hands.

She thought the conversation would end there, however Darcy kept talking, much to Lizzie’s and Lydia’s amazement. “That certificate doesn’t really mean much in the real world does it? I mean, in terms of better employment and job positions, right?”

Darcy should have just shut his stupid mouth on his stupid thumb head right there.

“Excuse me?” Lizzie said incredulously, nearly dropping her coffee in shock.

“Well, I mean objectively speaking, isn’t it more for decoration than anything else?” Darcy said, sounding even more robotic and inhuman than an automated calling system.

“As a matter of fact, the benefits of having intensive seminars and workshops with fellow writers and publishers and editors have unparalleled affect to burgeoning writers. Statistically speaking-”

Darcy, however, cut Lizzie off with a wave of his hand. “Never mind, forget I even asked.”

And with that he went to refill the coffee grounds and left Lizzie and Lydia standing in disbelief.

“That did just happen, right?” Lizzie turned to Lydia as they hurried towards the exit.

“Yeah he totes just put your dreams through the coffee bean grinder and steeped them in hopelessness and despair all right.” Lydia nodded, opening the glass door to the library.

“Thanks for the accurate visualization, Lydia.” Lizzie said, waving at Fitz who looked up when they walked in.

“Lizzie B! Back again! Study room’s all yours.” He gave her a nod, his large afro bouncing along comically.

“Thanks.” Lizzie said, smiling despite herself. At least there were still gentlemen out there, despite the conflicting evidence brought upon by Darcy.

“Did you know that even mom thinks that Darcy is a twat? Not that she used those exact words, but yeah, even she doesn’t like him.” Lydia said. “You have to admit, for her, that’s a pretty big step.”

“A big step, sure, but not exactly a hard one to take. God he is just so infuriating!” Lizzie lamented as they walked past the study tables in the back of the nonfiction section.

“Hey Lizzie, wait! There’s my psych TA. We should totes go say hi!” Lydia said, grabbing Lizzie’s wrist and parading her over to a table where an extremely fit guy was slouched over a stack of textbooks.

Lydia tapped her fingers against the wooden table and the fit bloke looked their way, his eyes lighting up when he saw that it was Lydia.

“Hey George, I didn’t realize you actually studied.” Lydia joked as George looked down woefully at his books.

“Yeah, it’s a rough deal, having to actually know what I talk about when I teach.” George joked, running his fingers through his ash blonde hair, causing his shirt to ruck up and expose some seriously sculpted abs. “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting.”

“I’m Lizzie Bennet, Lydia’s older sister.” Lizzie explained, extending a hand towards George.

“Ah, I see the resemblance now! I’m George Wickham, psych TA at the university.” He shook her hand gently, his grip light and fleeting. “What brings you to the library today? Surely you’re not actually studying, Lydia?”

Lydia rolled her eyes and propped her hand on her hip. “How come nobody thinks I can study properly?”

George just shrugged his shoulders and pouted his lips. “Maybe you’re just too gorgeous to be one of those academic nerdy girls.”

Lydia considered his statement and eventually nodded. “Sure, we’ll go with that. But no, I’m just here with Lizzie while she does some boring grad school writing stuff.”

“Do you come here often?” George asked, turning to Lizzie.

“It seems like it, nowadays.” Lizzie said, looking at the coffee cup from Netherfields in her hand.

He gestured to her cup. “Coffee drinker I see. We should stop by Netherfields sometime before you come here to study.”

Lizzie blushed and smiled. How could it be that just ten minutes ago she was being belittled and humiliated by a pretentious prick and here she was getting asked out on a coffee date with an actually attractive guy? “Yeah, sure. Sounds lovely.”

And with that Lydia smiled and dragged her away so that Lizzie could get on with her brainstorming so that they could leave the dull monotony the library had to offer on a Wednesday morning.

~~~

And so the days went on. Lizzie refused to speak more than monosyllabic words to Darcy after he so blatantly insulted her grad school intentions. However, he remained insistent on making conversation while preparing her coffee, often while brewing a fresh pot.

“What book are you reading?” he asked one such morning, gesturing to the thick novel resting in the crook of Lizzie’s arm.

Lizzie paused for a moment and considered whether or not she wanted to answer Darcy’s question. His vanity and pride were still somewhat a sore subject with her.

“War and Peace, by Tolstoy.” Lizzie replied eventually as she took her coffee from Darcy’s outstretched hand. “It’s a classic piece of Russian literature.”

She turned around abruptly and made straight for the door. She noticed Jane having a friendly conversation with Caroline, Bing’s sister, as Bing was busy getting pastries for them. At least Jane was able to bask well in the comfortable atmosphere of Netherfields even if Lizzie felt less than desired here.

~~~

“This song,” Darcy said, gesturing to the radio Bing was fooling around with, “it’s pretty catchy, huh?”

Lizzie was no fool. She knew that if she admitted to singing epic renditions of Ke$ha’s latest single in the shower when she was feeling giddy Darcy would never let her hear the end of it. To admit that she actually liked listening to top forty radio in addition to her interest in obscure European indie folk bands would be like laying herself out on a cutting block for Darcy to hack into. She told Darcy as much and walked out without waiting for a response, her palms itching to get back to the library and work on her novel, especially since a plot was starting to assemble in the cluttered canvas of her brain.

~~~

“Lizzie?” Jane gingerly called out to her as she made her way into the house one evening.

Bounding up the tall staircase, Lizzie poked her head into her older sister’s room. “Jane! How are you? How’s Bing?”

Her sister blushed as she ducked her head. “Oh Bing is quite lovely. I mean, so am I. We’re doing well.”

Lizzie laughed as she sat down next to her sister and hugged her. “And I see Caroline is finely coming around too. And here I thought all she could do was complain about the lack of organic produce and top forty radio.”

“Oh Lizzie, she’s not all bad!” Jane protested, swatting at her arm. “She’s just shy, that’s all.”

“Shy?” Lizzie mocked. “Not that vanity is everything, but has Caroline ever looked in a mirror? With perfectly shiny and smooth hair like that, she could open so many doors.”

Jane hit her again. “No wonder your blog sounds so cynical if all you care about is first impressions and how much mom wants us all to be happy.”

Lizzie groaned. “How do you know about my blog? I thought Charlotte was the only one.”

“Well, as it just so happens when I ran into Charlotte at the market on Friday and she asked me how things were with Bing and if Darcy really was as awful as you make him sound and if our mother has gotten any crazier in the past few weeks; it didn’t take much to shake the source of the information out of her.” Jane answered smugly. “So naturally I looked it into it and have been following ever since.”

Lizzie’s mouth just opened and closed like a seahorse on land. “So, any thoughts?”

Jane smiled and gave her an encouraging nod. “You do have a way with words, Lizzie. Truly. It’s interesting to see everything from your perspective for a while. The things that you choose to see and not see are fascinating, really. I just hope this isn’t taking away from your novel.”

The manic grin on Lizzie’s face spoke for itself.

“Lizzie! You have to finish your novel to graduate and get your degree! I thought that’s what you really cared about.”

“I do, really I do.” Lizzie said. “Despite what some pig headed asshole might think, it is really important. I just needed to write something while I waited for an idea to come.”

Jane gave her a simpering look. “I know Darcy may have said a few things--”

“A few things? Jane did you miss the post about how he blatantly told me that my degree was nothing more than a drinks coaster in the future? Not that I care much about his lousy opinion.” Lizzie seethed.

“Just as long as you don’t let it get you down, Lizzie. So do I get to hear about your story plot, or do I have to wait until the rest of the world gets to read about it on your blog?” Jane asked, trying to lighten the mood.

“Of course I’ll tell you, silly.” Lizzie said as she stretched out across Jane’s bed, her hair fanning out around her head.

“Oh good, because Charlotte wanted me to pass along the message that she won’t be able to beta your posts for a while because she has her own project to work on. Something about an independent film for the festival that Netherfields is hosting in a few weeks.” Jane mentioned.

Lizzie bit back a retort; she hadn’t realized that her little side project was taking up so much of Charlotte’s time. Why didn’t her best friend just say something if Lizzie was being so demanding? Lizzie never understood how Charlotte could be so selfless sometimes and yet so productive with her life.

She still grumbled about editing her own blog before answering Jane’s question about her novel. “Well, you see, I feel like in all my analysis about young adult literature there is a lack of stories about just two friends going on adventures. I mean, there are just so many stories out there about a girl whose life is completely inconsequential until she meets that one guy who happens to make everything all better with his fit body and smooth moves when in reality, that one person we have a crush on as a freshman in high school will probably mean nothing to us in five, ten years. I want a book about something more permanent, about something that lasts.”

Lizzie propped herself up on her elbows and found Jane nodding encouragingly at her. “You’ve got your heart in the right place with that idea, sis.”

Smiling, Lizzie went on. “So my advanced fiction professor encouraged me to explore different time periods and I finally settled on having my novel set in, like, medieval times – you know, times of kings and queens and sword fighting and magic. Anyways, there are these two characters, one is a pretentious prince who thinks that he’s so much better than the world and the other is this lowly servant who works so hard--”

“Not that I was eavesdropping,” Lydia barged into Jane’s room and plopped herself onto the pillows at the head of Jane’s bed, “but you two are going to the film festival Netherfields is hosting, right?”

Lizzie broke from her train of thought and looked over at her energetic baby sister. “Yeah, of course we are. I mean, Charlotte is having her film featured there. It could be a big break for her!”

“Totes, you know? But I mean, this is also going to be the party of the century! Have you seen how loaded Bing’s family is? Can you imagine all the expensive alcohol? I mean, we all know the number one rule is that nothing gets done without a little alcohol.” Lydia went on, her hand gestures getting wilder as she spoke.

“You do know that this is primarily a film festival, right?” Lizzie interjected, raising her eyebrow at her sister.

“Of course I know that Lizzie, but what sounds more fun to you? A boring, lame-o film fest or a smashing wild party? There really is no comparison. And besides, you promised George Wickham that you would take him to Netherfields for coffee. This is the perfect opportunity!”

Lizzie could only roll her eyes in response. She and George had been casually texting each other when they were both at the library, but she still couldn’t get over the fact that he looked like he did, all fit and muscle-y, and he had such a capacity for helping and caring about his students yet he still wanted to spend time getting to know a bit about her.

“Besides, everything happens at parties. It’s the be all or end all of occasions. Mark my words -- this fling at Netherfields will be legendary.” Lydia said before flouncing out of the room with a kiss and a wink.

Lizzie turned to Jane. “Do you ever feel like we’ve failed as older sisters in getting Lydia to grow up?”

All Jane could do was smile sheepishly and Lizzie left her basking in the glow of a new craft project.

~~~

“Do you think that Tolstoy was correct in the idea that love rules the world?”

Lizzie paused for a moment before looking at Darcy’s retreating back. “Tolstoy? You’ve read his works?”

Darcy turned around after putting more coffee grounds into the maker. “Recently, yes, I’ve found myself indulging in some of his more prominent works, even though Tolstoy tried to disassociate himself from them later on in his life.”

Blinking rapidly to make sure this was still the same Darcy who insulted her literary pursuits; Lizzie pursed her lips as she contemplated how to answer his question. “Well I suppose the idea of love being a universal force uniting people is something that is prevalent in literature throughout history, Tolstoy being one of many supporters of this theory.”

“True, very true,” Darcy agreed as he reached for a to-go cup.

“I mean, the theme of love conquering all, especially war and hatred, is relevant even in books like Harry Potter and The Book Thief. I think its frequent use speaks volumes to its relevance and truth.” Lizzie answered, her mind still whirring with the fact that Darcy read Russian literature and was speaking about its merits.

Darcy nodded as he poured some coffee from the fresh pot. “So would you say that you find love is powerful enough to overcome hatred and prejudice?”

Lizzie nodded as she went with her gut instinct. “Yeah, I actually think I do.”

“Good to hear, Lizzie.” Darcy said, handing her the coffee cup. Lizzie backed away slowly, wondering how things between her and Darcy had gotten so awkward and weird. Not that all of his barbs and insults were a pleasure, but they certainly were easier to understand than niceness and meaningful conversation. She needed to stop letting the caffeine go straight to her head.

She smiled over and waved to Jane before she left, who was meeting with Bradley, one of her managers to go over some designs she had for the next season in her look book. Judging by the wide smile on her face, things were going well.

~~~

The first thing Lizzie noticed about Netherfields when she walked in for the film festival was that Bing Lee seemed to be the Jay Gatsby of hosting parties. Netherfields opened up into a back room with a large viewing screen and at least a hundred plush folding chairs for the film festivals patrons. Charlotte stood in the middle of it all, looking lost and a little bit like she was contemplating running away to Glasgow and never turning around.

“Char, how’s it going?” Lizzie greeted as she tried to set her friends mind at ease.

“Lizzie, do you realize that Bing has managed to invite actual film producers here tonight? There are people here who will watch my thirty minute film short and might actually do something with it or judge me for it for the rest of my film-making career.” She got out before banging her head lightly on Lizzie’s shoulder.

Before Lizzie was able to do much but pat her best friends shoulder in solace, they were interrupted by the last face Lizzie expected to see here in San Francisco.

“Why Ms. Bennet! And Ms. Lu! What an absolutely delightful pleasure it is to run into and make your acquaintance here!” a nervous yet strong-willed voice proclaimed.

“Ricky?” Lizzie said, blushing with embarrassment. The only memory of this guy she had was proposing to him on the playground in the second grade.

“Oh, not Ricky,” he said, straightening out the lapels on his ill-fitting suit jacket. “No, no, no. It’s Mr. Collins now.”

Lizzie and Charlotte both nodded in faux enthusiasm.

“Oh, of course. What brings you here, Mr. Collins?” Charlotte asked, the first one to recover from the awkward encounter.

“Me? I’m here for the film festival of course! I’m here to recruit for my firm, Collins and Collins. I have a feeling that I shall be able to satisfy the needs and whims of many a prospective film maker here at this fine establishment tonight.” Mr. Collins said with a vigorous nodding of his head. “Speaking of which, I had stopped by to see your mother, Ms. Bennet, beforehand and she mentioned your pursuit towards an MFA certificate. She spoke very highly and fondly of your writing. Say, have you ever considered the fine and prestigious career of being a screen writer, Ms. Bennet? There is an opening that I would be most honored to have the pleasure of offering you with your writing expertise.”

Lizzie took back a step in shock. “You talked to my mother and now you’re offering me a job? Why?”

“Why on earth would I not, Ms. Bennet? I know of your skills and capabilities from the portfolio you have positioned on your table of dining in your household and found them to be more than capable of being molded to the business professional standard upheld by members of Collins and Collins.” Mr. Collins went on to explain despite the look of displeasure crossing Lizzie’s face.

“Did my mom pay you and set you up to come here and do this? Is she that desperate to fling me at any suitor whatsoever, despite the fact that I am a human being and I just want to finish my graduate degree?” Lizzie burst out, her fingers massaging her temples as Ricky kept babbling on and on about how there was no need to finish her degree and that she would be well compensated financially for her creative work. Lizzie gave Charlotte a wide-eyed expression of shock and panic as she tried to figure out the best way to leave.

Mr. Collins was still rambling on about the ethics and atmosphere at Collins and Collins when Lizzie couldn’t handle his pretentious speech any longer. “Ricky, I don’t care what you and my mother conspired about. There is no possible way that I can drop out of graduate school and work for you.”

Ricky wouldn’t allow his offer to be refused. “Ah, of course Ms. Bennet. You know how to seal the deal and bargain like a true Bennet. Which is why I am prepared to offer you this additional signing bonus plus a raise with each project you complete for the company Ms. Bennet. We here at Collins and Collins--” 

“No Ricky, let me make this plain and simple. I will not work for you. End of story. Really. I have my own projects and novels to write. I don’t ever wish to work for you or your corporation.” Lizzie blurted out before she hastily ran away towards the front part of the coffee shop, unfortunately stranding Charlotte with her mother’s idea of a sick joke.

She saw Darcy out of the corner of her eye look like he was going to come and approach her, so Lizzie decided now was a good a time as any to catch a breath of fresh air. Why everyone in her life seemed so against her career choice was beyond her, but she wanted nothing to do with Mr. Collins and his slimy corporate business practices. If she worked as a writer for him, she would no doubt be writing out some stupid scripts for reality television and shows like the Walking Daisies or some other ridiculous parody. It wasn’t something that she would be willing to stoop down and lower her intellect for.

Lizzie was hardly outside for a minute before she saw George Wickham slowly strolling up to Netherfields, his well-muscled arms threatening to rip clean out of his tight grey v-neck t-shirt.

“Hey Peach, didn’t think I’d find you so fast.” George said, giving her a smoldering grin.

“And here I was thinking that you weren’t serious about that nickname when you were texting me!” Lizzie said, smiling despite herself as George swung one of his arms around her shoulders.

“Are you surprised?”

“I don’t think you’ll ever stop surprising me, if that’s what you what to know.”

“Good. Now show me inside this favorite haunt of yours then, Peach.”

Lizzie smiled up at him as she opened up the door to let them inside. However, they barely made it past the first table before they were assaulted by the world’s biggest prat himself, William Darcy.

“Lizzie,” he said in that robotic tone of his, “are you enjoying yourself this evening? I saw that your friend Charlotte’s film is showing and is expecting rave reviews.”

Darcy finally looked from Lizzie’s face and realized that she wasn’t quite alone. His jaw clenched visibly when he saw George Wickham giving him a smug smile as he wrapped his arm tighter around Lizzie.

“George,” he said, hardly meeting the man’s eye.

“Darcy,” George returned, giving him a clear onceover and looking unamused. “If you’ll just excuse us.”

Lizzie didn’t miss the tense interaction between the two men and she wondered how it was that they knew each other. George steered her away by the shoulder towards the bookshelves in the far left corner of the coffee shop.

“I didn’t realize that he worked here. And that you knew him.” George told Lizzie, a hard edge settling into his gaze.

“I didn’t think that it mattered,” Lizzie muttered. “How do you two even know each other?”

George scoffed. “Let’s just say we have a history, Darcy and I. A very unpleasant history that will shatter every nice thing you may have ever thought about that guy,” he said, lip curling up in disgust.

Lizzie snorted as she tried not to burst out into more full-fledged laughter. “Darcy has never been one for very nice thoughts.”

“Oh really?” George asked. “Then it may not shock you so much to know that he is the man single-handedly responsible for ruining my life.”

“He did? But how?”

“Let’s just say that once upon a time, Darcy and I used to be best friends. His father took to me so well he promised to pay for my college education so that I could use that knowledge to better position myself in life. Except one day the old man died and left his son in charge of all his finances. I was in my freshman year of college when Darcy cut me loose and let me hang with none of the money his father had promised me all those years ago that was rightfully mine. Thus started my mountain of student loans and debt and I kissed the thought of a master’s degree goodbye. And now I’ve had to settle being a TA while I try to scrape up enough money to pay off student loans so that I can push the rest of the way and eventually become a lowly teacher.” George ranted, his hands going wild as they coursed with his anger and hatred for Darcy.

“Darcy did all that to you? Did he give you any sort of explanation? How could he?” These were the only words Lizzie was able to grapple from the jumble of phrases floating around her head.

“Beats me. All I know is that I had such larger dreams than one day maybe becoming a teacher. But that’s all I really can afford.” He sighed, looking like a defeated soldier returning home from battle without any comrades by his side.

Lizzie reached up and carefully tried to ease the ache in his jaw with her deft fingers. It was no use; he slowly reached up and pulled her hand away. “Look, I’m sorry Peach. I just can’t be here tonight. Not with Darcy around. I just have to go.”

He drew away and slinked out the front entrance, stuffing his hands away in the front pocket of his jeans. Lizzie hardly knew what to think. She knew that Darcy was a douchebag from her own impressions and experience, but she didn’t realize to what extent he was damaged.

Lydia suddenly bounded out from the middle of nowhere, briefly drawing Lizzie’s thoughts away from Darcy and his robotic actions.

“Lizzie, was that just George that I saw running away from here?” she demanded, her hand on her hip.

“Yeah, it was.” Lizzie said with a sigh.

“Then why aren’t you running after him? Do you know how many of George’s students could be flinging themselves at him right now? Are you willing to risk that?” Lydia asked, giving Lizzie a hard look.

Lizzie didn’t know exactly what to say. While George was a perfectly nice gentleman, Lizzie didn’t think that romance and men were what she needed right now. She had to focus on her novel and that was it. Especially with this new revelation, Lizzie didn’t want to get in the middle with George and Darcy primarily because she knows whose side of the story she would stand up for. She wouldn’t want a riff between her and Darcy to in any way effect Jane’s healthy relationship with Bing.

“Well,” Lizzie sighed, “I think George was more about a casual thing.”

“And we all know that Lizzie Bennet doesn’t do casual.” Lydia concluded. “Fair enough.”

Lizzie was grateful that her sister didn’t press her anymore about why George left so soon. She wasn’t sure she would be able to stomach retelling his story about what Darcy dared to do to him.

“And actually Lydia, I think I might go to. I’m not exactly in a particularly party friendly mood.” Lizzie said, rubbing at her throbbing temples.

Lydia looked at her as though she suggested they all move to Pierrefonds and take up jousting but she shrugged her shoulders eventually. “Whatev, sis. Be lame-o. Reason number 8 as to why Lizzie Bennet is perpetually single.”

With that, Lydia flounced away with the full intention to party like it was 1999. Lizzie looked up and saw Jane talking with Colin, the new Irish temp at her office and she waved before heading slowly to the door, her thoughts weighing her down like iron clamps. Lydia certainly was right when she talked about this party. It certainly was legendary.

~~~

But the thing about that night at Netherfields was that while the night was legendary, the aftermath lingered like a ghost that would haunt Lizzie and her family for what seemed to be forever.

It became apparent that something was off the next morning when Jane and Lizzie went to Netherfields for their daily coffee and tea. Even though Darcy seemed even more like a cretin after George Wickham’s shocking revelation, Lizzie could not deny that she needed that coffee like a lifeline in order to work through the plot of her novel successfully.

Stepping into the coffee shop, a strange sight greeted the two Bennet sisters. Instead of the familiar Darcy, Bing, and Caroline working at the front counter they were met with two older people who could only be Bing’s parents.

“Hello, welcome to Netherfields. What may I get started for you today?” Mrs. Lee asked curtly, her hand poised over the to-go cups.

Jane fumbled for the right words, to blurt out whatever beverage came to mind just so that she could get out of the coffee shop and wonder where Bing was but her heart beat her brain to her mouth. “Is Bing here?”

Her mother’s civil expression turned into a displeased frown. “Bing has gone back to medical school where he belongs. Is there anything that I can get for you?”

Jane’s face fell uncertainly and Lizzie grasped her arms to hold her up. “Uh, no thanks actually. We’d best be going.”

Lizzie took her sister by the arm and steered her out the door to the bench in front of the library.

“Jane? Are you okay?” Lizzie asked, concern etched in the lines of her face.

“Of course Bing had to go back to medical school. His break couldn’t last forever. Do you know how challenging it is to be a doctor, Lizzie? The fact that he was here so long is amazing.” Jane was rambling, nodding to herself to try and make it all better.

“Jane? Did Bing tell you that he was leaving to go back to medical school?”

Jane looked over at Lizzie quizzically. “Um, no? But he really didn’t have to. I mean, I knew he was studying to be a doctor all along, right? This was bound to happen right?”

“Oh Jane, this isn’t right at all. I saw the way he looked at you. He wouldn’t just up and leave with no goodbye! Are you sure that maybe he didn’t tell you and you forgot?” Lizzie rationalized.

“No, no he definitely did not mention medical school. But like I said. It’s not like he owed it to me to tell me. I knew all along that he just wanted to save lives. Of course he had to go back to school for that.”

Jane was refusing to waver from her stance that Bing did nothing wrong. But Lizzie could tell by the defeated set to her shoulders and the downward cast of her eyes that it cut her deep to have Bing leave her without so much as a word to go by. Lizzie could see then that Jane truly loved Bing, even if the words were left unspoken.

“Did you know that he sent me flowers to my office? Once it was a bouquet of fresh daisies, another time it was every color tulip imaginable.” Jane’s words cut through the still air, the unanswered questions lingering like coffee breath.

“Let’s just get you home, okay?” Lizzie said, reaching around to prop Jane up.

“Okay.”

~~~

Lizzie got Jane into her room with a fresh mug of tea and her latest craft project and let her work through her emotions in the best way that she knew. Lydia was who knows where although apparently she told their mother that she was out studying. But knowing Lydia, that really just wasn’t possible.

With so many raw emotions floating around her head, betrayal and loss cutting in between loyalty and love, Lizzie could not afford to waste this day when it came to her novel project. She was en route to the library when her phone starting going off.

Thinking it might be Jane wanting company or something from the store, Lizzie answered immediately.

“Lizzie!”

“Charlotte! Hey, what’s up?”

“I know Lydia said you had to duck out early last night--”

Lizzie gasped. “Shit! Your movie! How did that go? Did everyone eat it up like it was the best piece of pie on the planet?”

Charlotte laughed. “Yes, even without you there to tell everyone how qualified and good I am it still went over well. Really well, actually.”

“Really well? Are you holding out on me? Should I be asking for an autograph from you now before you are whisked away to be the next big film director?” 

“Well,” Charlotte started out hesitantly. “Here’s the thing. I was given an extremely incredible offer, one that I really couldn’t think of refusing, and that is all that matters.”

“Charlotte,” Lizzie started off sweetly. “What is it that you aren’t telling me?”

Charlotte paused for so long, Lizzie almost thought that her phone dropped the call altogether. “It’s just that, well, the offer came from Ricky Collins.”

The words hung in the air like smog and Lizzie found it hard to breathe for a while.

“You accepted an offer from Ricky the dickhead Collins from elementary school Charlotte? What the hell were you thinking? He’s just going to take your hard work and mold you into one of his corporate minions who produce nothing but bad sitcoms.”

“Lizzie it’s not like that.”

“No Charlotte! It’s exactly like that! I leave you alone for one evening and it’s like you made a crossroads deal to sell your soul to the devil! You’re so much better than that Charlotte. You and your talent deserve so much more.” Lizzie argued.

Charlotte sighed as she tried to collect her thoughts and make Lizzie understand. “Lizzie, we all know the job market isn’t looking the greatest. I mean, look at the two of us, we’re still living at home with our parents, for Christ’s sake! I can’t afford to be picky and choosy about my job offers. If I pass this one up, I may never get to where I want with my career. At least Collins and Collins is giving me a solid place to start and work my way up to the top of my game.”

“I still think you could do so much better Charlotte, if only you could see how much talent and potential you have!”

“That’s just the thing, Lizzie. Collins and Collins sees that potential too and they are willing to pay me to help cultivate it. Please just try to understand.”

“I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.” Lizzie hung up abruptly and found herself collapsed in the same bench from this morning. She slowly staggered up and made her way to the only place she knew she could find solace – the table in the corner study room at the library, where Lizzie settled down to write out the frazzled messages etched on her heart.

~~~

And so it went for a few weeks, Jane going straight to work every morning and Lizzie going straight to the library, their endless trips to Netherfields coming to an abrupt halt. No more was heard from Bing, Caroline, or even Darcy as to why the trio skipped town.

Mrs. Bennet moaned for days from the comfort of the family room couch once she found out that Bing, the only eligible bachelor she managed to snag for one of her daughters was gone. She wasn’t heartbroken for Jane, who was going through a phase of only pinning sad quotes and photos to her pinterest; she was only heartbroken for herself and that fact that there weren’t any forthcoming grandbabies for the foreseeable future. Lizzie found it absolutely disgusting.

Luckily Jane missed the bulk of her mother’s ridiculous actions because she spent her time confined to her bedroom or to her office. Lizzie and Lydia periodically left tea for her outside her door, but even Lizzie and Lydia had school and studying and writing to attend to. They could only hope that time and space would help heal the sweetest person that is known to mankind.

However, one day Jane emerged from her room a fresh and new person with a penchant for crafting and embroidery and the energy to pretend that nothing bad ever happened between her and the one man she loved. It’s like her reemergence in the world lifted off a veil that Lizzie was living under and she too could move on from the situation, even if it wasn’t really her problem to begin with.

The first thing that she noticed was a college student who started working every day in the study room adjacent to hers. She was a lithe little thing with her short and shiny brown hair cut into a fashionable bob. The widow’s peak in her hair accentuated her sharp cheekbones and she reminded Lizzie of someone, but the name was escaping her. She always smiled at Lizzie from across the way and she looked like she could be the friend that Lizzie needed now that Charlotte was pulled away from her to work at Collins and Collins in Lawrence, Kansas. It was a Tuesday when they both happened to get to the library at the same time to work.

“It’s Lizzie, right?” she said as they both were heading towards Fitz at the front counter. Lizzie looked at her, astonished, and nodded her head.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude,” she went on, giggling nervously. “It’s just, I’ve noticed you’re here a lot, and Fitz here talks about you being one of his regulars, and I don’t know.”

Lizzie finally found her voice and smiled genuinely. “Wow, um thanks? I think? I’m glad to be noticed?”

The girl just smiled sweetly and nodded. “I’m Gigi, by the way. Future grad student.”

“Lizzie, obviously. Grad student, currently working on about a million writing projects.”

“Oh I know,” Gigi squeaked before color flooded her high cheekbones. “I’ll let you go.”

Lizzie and Fitz watched Gigi scamper off quickly towards the quiet study area. Fitz shook his head as he handed over the log for Lizzie to sign. “Trying to wean off the caffeine Lizzie B?”

“Huh?” Lizzie said, signing her name with a flourish.

“Nothing. I mean, it’s just that you haven’t come in here with Netherfields coffee lately,” he said, matter-of-factly.

Lizzie rolled her eyes. “Oh, that. It’s nothing. Well, I guess it’s something. It’s just. Never mind.”

“Oh sure, because that explains everything Lizzie B.” Fitz punched her lightly on the shoulder. “Anyways, I only mentioned it because my best bro Willie D totally worked as a barista there. I wonder if you ever saw him.”

She scoffed. “You could say that.”

Fitz shrugged. “It was too bad he had to skip town for a while. Something about helping out a friend who was tangled up in a bad relationship. That’s the thing about Darcy – he really looks out for the people he cares about.”

Lizzie’s mood went from mild irritation to homicidal rage in the time it took Fitz to complete his thought.

“Did Darcy mention which friend it was that he was helping out?” Lizzie said in a strained voice.

“His friend at the coffee shop – Bing Lee.”

Lizzie winced and clutched at her stomach as it roiled with acid and hatred.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she mumbled before rushing out of the library, her cheeks flaming red with emotion.

What the actual fuck has Darcy done? Was he really the reason why Bing left Jane with no reason or explanation? Who the hell does Darcy think he is? Lizzie couldn’t even process the rationale behind that prat’s decision to split up the sweetest couple on earth. Why did he interfere in the romantic entanglements of someone that’s not himself? Bing is perfectly capable of making his own decisions; why exactly is he taking romantic advice from someone outside his personal relationship with Jane?

Lizzie fumed and paced, going over Fitz’s words and Darcy’s actions for hours as she wandered around the city of San Francisco, stopping occasionally at Starbucks to rant her feelings about Darcy on her blog, which over the course of the past few months had actually gained a reasonable following. Her thighs were burning from all the walking; the hills in this city were truly unforgivable.

She crossed her fingers that Jane was too busy with her job to bother and read her blog; her words about Darcy’s actions would poison her soul and she really didn’t need to know just how badly that bastard screwed her life over. But even if she couldn’t confide in her older sister to spill out her guts, Lizzie knew that her followers had her back. They wrote her all sorts of kind comments about how to cope with this grievous blow and the best ways she could murder that asshole in his sleep. She went home that night with a heavy heart and a racing mind, unsure of what she could possibly tell her sister and how she could possibly move forward from this point in her life.

~~~

After a night of little sleep and loads of tossing and turning, Lizzie knew that if nothing else, she had to work on her novel today; the deadline was fast approaching and her first draft was hardly a quarter of the way completed. She got to the library and Fitz was his usual cheerful self, a stark contrast to Lizzie’s hateful glower. Lizzie hardly had a chance to settle into her favorite chair in the corner before Gigi hesitantly knocked in the doorway.

“Lizzie? Can I talk to you?” Her voice was timid and small.

Lizzie looked up at her heartfelt face and tried her best to tamper the hatred bubbling through her veins. “Um, yeah. Sure. Come in.”

Gigi’s face relaxed and she sat across the table from Lizzie. She looked at her for a few seconds, a smile tugging up the corners of her dainty mouth. “I’m just so glad we’re friends.”

Lizzie smiled, trying to come to terms that this almost stranger actually wanted to interact with her and considered her an acquaintance, despite their less than satisfactory encounters.

“It’s just that Lizzie, well it pains me to say, I just really think that I need your help.” Gigi confessed. Before Lizzie could answer, Gigi was distracted by an incoming text message on her phone. She grinned at the message before hastily sending a response and looking back up at Lizzie’s expecting face.

“What exactly do you think that you need help with?” Lizzie asked, wondering where this was going.

Gigi paused. “Grad school applications, I think?”

Lizzie gave her a frank smile. “I think the only help that I can be there is get your applications started as soon as possible and make sure you make the deadlines. They may seem like little things, but it’s a big help the sooner you start.”

Gigi nodded along with her and looked back anxiously at her phone. “Of course, of course. Um, well, I guess I need more help than I thought.”

She looked up at Lizzie, who nodded at her to continue. “It’s just that, I really think you could probably lend me a hand in, uh, calculus!”

“Calculus? You are aware that I am an English major right? Math is definitely not my strong point.”

Gigi laughed airily and stayed firmly put in her seat. “Of course I know that you write Lizzie, but maybe you could help me find someone to help tutor me perhaps?”

Lizzie looked at her curiously. Gigi seemed anxious and reluctant to leave Lizzie’s study area and not that Lizzie was a real Sherlock Holmes or anything, but Lizzie seriously doubted that Gigi worked up the courage simply to talk to her and ask her about calculus tutors. Her thoughts were interrupted by a squeal of delight from Gigi as her phone vibrated again. She shifted around so she was more comfortable in her wooden chair before there was a precarious knock outside their study room door.

“Gigi?” A muffled voice came from the other side of the wall.

“Come in, I’m in here!” she called out and the door slowly swung open.

Lizzie hardly registered the fact that it was Darcy, her worst nightmare, on the other side of the door holding two cups of coffee before the hot beverages found their way tumbling to the hardwood floor as Darcy noticed that Lizzie was also there with Gigi.

“Oh William! Let me grab some paper toweling! I’ll be right back!”

And like that, Gigi was out of the room traveling faster than the speed of light. Lizzie still wasn’t over the shock that she was currently occupying the same space as Darcy, that they were currently breathing and sharing the same air. Darcy seemed equally at a loss for words as he stared over the spilled coffee at Lizzie’s frozen face.

Darcy perched uncertainly on the corner of the chair Gigi had just vacated. He gestured vaguely in the direction Gigi sped off to before speaking. “So you’ve met my sister Georgiana then?”

Lizzie pursed her lips and tried her hardest just to ignore him. But seeing as how Gigi seems to have lost her way from the study room to the bathroom and back she saw no other way but to be civil to the cretin across from her. “Yes, I’ve just been helping her with a few things here and there. Grad school stuff.”

Darcy nodded and looked everywhere around the room before finally settling on Lizzie’s face. He sighed deeply and his hands were hooked around his suspenders as he fiddled with them, almost nervously. Lizzie went back to ranting about Darcy’s presence on her blog while she waited for Darcy to eventually get up and leave. What she didn’t expect was for him to keep on talking.

“Lizzie, I’m not here just for Gigi. I must confess I came to this library also to see if I could find you. I knew you came here to work every morning after you got coffee at the café and I hoped today would be the same.” Darcy spoke, his hands rubbing nervously on his upper thighs.

She nodded at his statement and willed him to continue speaking if only it would mean that he would leave sooner, preferably after giving an explanation about why he did what he did to Jane.

“You see Lizzie I came here because I have something to get off my chest. Despite the fact that society says otherwise because of our different families and social classes, I find myself unable to ignore the obvious anymore.” Darcy looked ill as he took in a deep breath. “Lizzie Bennet, I am completely and wholly in love with you and I can ignore the affections of my heart no longer.”

He paused, giving Lizzie ample time to react to his declaration of love. Lizzie sat at the table dumbfounded, her mouth gaping open and close like a Venus fly trap as she tried to form a coherent statement to give to Darcy.

Darcy looked at her hopefully as she was finally able to clear her throat. “Well I hope your pride and vanity is enough to sustain you and your disappointment because there is no way that I could ever think of reciprocating the feelings you have for me. I feel painfully sorry for any woman that ever ends up forced to be your wife! Your arrogance, pride, and selfishness would make any relationship with you a living hell.”

His eyes widened as he took in Lizzie’s vengeful words. “Are you rejecting me?”

“Rejecting you? You came here with the notion that I would accept? How could you even imagine such a possibility, what with my wayward family and our so called debilitating social standing?” Lizzie spat out, all the anger she had been suppressing since Fitz’s announcement yesterday bubbling hot and vicious to the surface.

“I never saw you that way Lizzie! But you have to forgive me if perhaps that’s the way I saw your crazed social climbing mother who only ever cared about your frigid sisters engagement to Bing and your younger sisters energetic whims and follies that create destruction everywhere she goes.” Darcy retaliated.

Lizzie rose to her feet when Darcy had the audacity to mention Jane and the affections of her heart in front of her. “Oh yes. And what about Jane? Why did you think that it was your responsibility to decide the fate of my sister and her romantic interest?”

Darcy shook his head and his lips drew together into a narrow line. “It was in my best interests to watch out for my friend. I could see that Jane’s interest in him was fleeting and no more than a passing whim to please her mother’s desires. It was painfully obvious to see how advantageous this relationship with Bing was to her social standing and her finances.”

“You think Jane was only with Bing for the money?” Lizzie seethed. “My sister was in love with Bing and I’d say that the feelings seemed pretty mutual.”

“They may have been mutual but I saw how Jane was with other men. She flits to and from them like a butterfly gathering the best nectar. And at Bing’s own party even I saw Jane’s glaring indiscretion that very explicitly indicated to me that Bing had to be removed from her destructive force of nature before his heart and his wallet was broken.”

Lizzie huffed out a manic bout of incredulous laughter. “Jane’s indiscretion? What does that even mean? And don’t even get me started about that party. I heard all about you and your actions from George Wickham. How you can even dare to look that man in the eye after what you did to him is beyond me.”

Darcy simply rested his hands on the tabletop and folded them while Lizzie continued to pace on her side of the room. “If you had any doubt in your mind about Jane’s feelings for Bing or my feelings for you, why don’t you just look at my blog? Heavens knows I documented everything very thoroughly.”

The heat of the moment turned frigid when Darcy looked up inquisitively at Lizzie. “Your blog?”

Lizzie choked on air as she realized the gravity of her words. She hastily slammed her laptop shut and fled the study room, leaping over the spilt coffee with little dignity. She slammed into Gigi, who was finally on her way back from getting some paper toweling and couldn’t be bothered to apologize. The only thing she could think of was getting home and hibernating in her nest of blankets until her world stopped crumbling down around her.

It was one thing to hear from Darcy himself that he was personally responsible for breaking up Bing and her sister but to hear from the same man that he loved her? It was too much emotion for Lizzie to handle and all she could do was bury her face in her pillows and weep.

~~~

Lizzie’s story demanded to be worked on, the humble servant and the clotpole prince were at each other’s throats and she needed to work on advancing the plot. She saw no other way of being productive except to crack open her laptop and confine herself to the library study room.

So she found herself sitting on the slightly uncomfortable wooden chair an hour later opening up her laptop and nearly punching herself at what she saw on the screen. All she had written yesterday during the whole Darcy fiasco was something to the effect of she couldn’t believe any of this was happening. Her followers were creating alternate universes about what had happened to Lizzie and Darcy during their time together and what each of them would say. But AU’s weren’t nearly as satisfying as knowing what actually went down in this study room the day before and Lizzie felt that she owed it to her readers to tell them exactly what happened. She copied down almost all of the conversation verbatim – Lizzie Bennet never forgets anything.

But as good as it felt to get the whole encounter off her chest, Lizzie knew what had to be done so she logged out of her blog and opened up the blank and intimidating canvas of her novel. She was so absorbed in how her characters seemed to be developing of their own accord she almost didn’t notice the light rapping on the door to the study room. Lizzie didn’t respond; she didn’t know if it was Fitz or possibly Gigi who was trying to get her attention but neither of them could say anything to her to make this situation with Darcy all right.

So as fate would have it, Darcy was the man who tread inside the doorway carefully a minute later, his face looking forlorn and wistful. Lizzie pretended to ignore him but his presence wasn’t one that just went away. He carefully set down a tall cup of coffee for her in front of her laptop but Lizzie still wasn’t swayed to give him any attention.

Darcy seemed to be almost at the door to leave before he abruptly turned back and pulled an envelope out of his sweater vest. He set it down gently next to the cup of coffee and touched Lizzie lightly on the shoulder, his fingertips hardly grazing her fleece jacket. Nevertheless, Lizzie felt burned by the touch.

He cleared his throat before letting go of her. “I’m hardly ever good at explaining myself in conversation,” Darcy started softly, his voice losing its robotic veneer and actually daring to sound tender. “But I owe you an explanation Lizzie Bennet. I’m leaving you this letter here in the hopes that you will read it and not think ill of me.”

Before Lizzie could make any sort of acknowledgement, Darcy was gone, his light footfalls echoing down the quiet library hallway. Lizzie finally allowed herself to breathe and touch the place on her shoulder that Darcy’s hand had rested. She took a hesitant sip of the coffee she had been craving for months before bravely grasping the letter and breaking the honest to god wax seal on the back and opening it. The heavy cardstock paper fell open at her touch and her eyes skated tentatively over Darcy’s cursive handwriting.

Dearest Elizabeth,

It pains me to know that this letter is coming to you over such tense circumstances. I was unaware yesterday of just how much I had been wrong about in regards to not just you but your family, especially your sister Jane, and I hope that these words will clarify to you the reasons behind my actions. Your speech yesterday helped illuminate my knowledge on certain points but it was your written word and frank writing that brought my judgments to a halt.

Lizzie, you probably had no intention of ever revealing your blog to anyone on the periphery of your life, lest of all me. But I feel after reading your tales and anecdotes that we are more alike than I had known. While I am becoming self-aware that I judge individuals too quickly and without enough information I feel that you too are bound to the same sort of judgment. However, this letter isn’t meant to criticize, it is only meant to clarify.

When I saw Jane and Bing together, I couldn’t deny that there was some sort of special bond between those two kind souls. I saw how Bing grew transfixed on Jane and how dependent he was becoming on her to bring him happiness. I see no fault in two people becoming intertwined as such but I did see Jane start to waver in her attentions. The closer things got to the time before Bing’s grand party, the more I saw Jane with other men in our café. It’s not that I think it is wrong for Jane to have other male companions, but I simply observed that she seemed to treat them with the same reverence I had thought she reserved only for my beloved friend. It was then that I kept a closer eye on her and Bing especially on that fateful night wherein we had to leave San Francisco, not just for convenience but also for business.

Bing is a medical student in grad school and working at Netherfields was only supposed to be a temporary stepping stone before he went in for his next round of schooling. I too was only supposed to be there for a short while as I had exams to take for my pursuit of being an actuary scientist in the hopes to inherit the company my parents had left me in their name. So while our move away from San Francisco may have seemed sudden to the bonds and attachments we had formed, it was inevitable that a break had to come at some point. In my opinion, that break couldn’t have come at a more desirable time after Jane seemed to be on her way to breaking Bing’s heart. I cannot write her story and tell you of her exact actions of that night for I want her to tell you in her own words so that my judgment is not inflicted where it is not necessary or welcome.

In regards to your other inquiry, George Wickham, I feel that I owe you my own side of his story. After reading your blog and discovering what it was he had told you about me, I feel it is necessary to clarify a few finer details of his saga. While my father had treated him like a second son and promise to pay for his education, George’s actions weren’t quite the same way he described them to you. When my father died, his accounts were left to me, including the account that was set aside for George to use to attend university and to complete his degree. George demanded the whole sum of money up front when he went away as a freshman in college and seeing as how the money was rightfully his, I gave it to him without hesitation. However, the money given to George was not used quite as my father intended. He came to me before he was due to start his sophomore year of schooling asking for more funds to complete his education with. It seemed as though George had managed to spend the entire sum of money set aside to cover his educational expenses for the rest of his life in one fell swoop and he felt entitled to more money as he pleased. Seeing as how this was not how my father intended for George to use his money, I felt no desire to give him any more financial help seeing as how my father’s wishes were cast out to the wild when George spent every penny doing everything but his degree. So while George may feel that I abandoned him and left him out to dry, I felt the need to clarify that it was partially his own doing that he has to settle for being a high school psychology teacher. I hope this explanation was enough for you to see that I do care about those who deserve it and George is not among that list of people.

Lastly, I wanted you to know that I never meant to shed a bad light upon your family. Know that I never saw you in that light, Lizzie. I understand that your mother wants what’s best for you, that Jane is shy and sweet with her affections, and that Lydia may be energetic but she’s trying to balance out all the weight that gets shifted to her by being the youngest. I feel as though it is nearly impossible to make a good first impression and that one must be open to a change of heart in the light of a new day. We have to take the chances that come to us with open arms and I can only hope that you will forgive me for the discomfort I may have caused you and your family with my presence here at Netherfields. I have already attempted to contact Bing to explain my grievous mistake in terms of his affections with your dearest sister. While he has yet to respond at his place of residence on campus, I am sure to make amends as soon as contact has been made. I never meant to do any wrong to you Lizzie Bennet and I hope that your impression of me is honest. I hope not to damage your life any further and I wish you the best in every pursuit you have. You have a gift with words and I hope one day you will get the chance to be published so the world can see what so many have already glimpsed on your blog.

Yours truly,  
William Darcy

Lizzie isn’t quite certain how long she remains transfixed on the papers in her hand, but by the time she idly reaches for the cup of coffee, she finds it chilled to the touch. She sets down the letter carefully and her fingers lazily spin around the cold coffee cup in her hands, phrases of Darcy’s floating through her head. It was too much to process considering his confessions yesterday and his complete honesty today. She also couldn’t help but feel a certain numbness after feeling such strong hatred towards a man who was now admitting to his faults and absolving himself of his douchebag ways. Spinning the cup around enough in her hands, she noticed some scrawl near the bottom edge of the cup. Squinting, she saw more of Darcy’s tidy cursive handwriting.

Fitz told me it’s been months since you’ve stopped by for coffee, presumably after I left town with Bing in tow. I realize you may hate me, but I always liked it when you stopped in.

Lizzie continued to feel confused and unsettled. As much as she wanted to continue hating Darcy for all the emotional pain he has caused her and that he has caused her family, she just couldn’t do it. Maybe it was because he was stepping down slightly from his pedestal of pride and vanity or maybe it was the fact that he told her he loved her, for however fleeting of a moment his feelings may have lasted. Once you know that someone cares about you, no matter what your current emotional state was, it is hard to remain entirely unbiased in the end result.

She fingered the lettering on her coffee cup before letting her characters run around rampant in her head, threading a whole new story plot as her fingers danced across her laptop keys.

~~~

It had been a week since Darcy had given Lizzie his heartfelt letter and apologies and Lizzie found herself frozen, as usual outside of Netherfields debating about whether or not she should venture inside. Every day before she had come to the same fork in the road and chickened out, but today felt different. Perhaps there was a certain nip in the air, but Lizzie reluctantly tugged on the door handle in front of her and walked inside, her eyes recollecting all the forgotten details about this beloved haunt of hers.

Darcy’s head jerked up when he heard the bells above the doors jangling and his eyes widened with surprise at Lizzie’s sheepish form beneath them.

“Lizzie,” he said, breathlessly as he mindlessly finished wiping off the counter in front of him. “You came.”

His words coaxed a smile out of her face and she nodded. “It’s just something about this coffee. There must be drugs in it or something. It just keeps bringing me back.”

Darcy looked shocked for a minute before he realized that her words were a lighthearted joke. “Ha ha,” he said, drawing his chin back to his neck shyly. “You still have your coffee black then I take it?”

“Indeed. I still take my coffee black.” Lizzie said, resting her hands on the countertop. Darcy stepped back to brew a fresh pot for her but then let his arms rest on the other side of the counter.

“Writing again today?” he asked politely.

Lizzie nodded. “Deadlines are closer than they appear, I’m told.”

“What kind of story are you writing about? Is it a mystery, an adventure, a romance?” He turned away to grab a coffee cup for her.

“I’m honestly not quite sure what it’s going to be yet,” Lizzie commented frankly. “It started off with a servant and a prince.”

“A winning combination, I think.” Darcy said, reaching for the freshly brewed coffee. He handed Lizzie her cup and she handed Darcy her money. “You do realize that we have very comfy chairs right in this very coffee shop.”

“Comfy chairs you say?”

“Very comfy indeed. Great for slouching and I even heard,” Darcy whispered conspiratorially, “Writing.”

Lizzie smiled shyly when she released how close to her ear Darcy had gotten. His breath tickled the fine hairs that were falling out of her loose ponytail. “You don’t say?”

Darcy drew his chin back, contemplating what to say. “Will you stay and write here today Lizzie? A change of pace could be everything that your story needs.”

Lizzie looked over to the extremely inviting corduroy chairs. “I do think I need a change of scenery.”

She walked slowly over to a chair facing the counter and smiled at Darcy once she plopped down and settled in. He smiled back widely and Lizzie couldn’t remember a time when she had seen Darcy so happy.

~~~

As hard as Lizzie tried to stop going back to Netherfields for coffee every morning, she couldn’t help but feel giddy and obligated to get her daily coffee that she had been so used to in the past. And as much as she hated to admit it, there was something so soothing about working in the sounds of a bustling coffee shop as compared to a still and silent library filled with dusty tomes that she couldn’t quite bring herself to going back to her old place to work. She established a new routine that involved coffee from Darcy every morning and occasional scones and muffins from him to help her pass the time as the day went on.

“How is everything going for the servant and the prince?” he asked her, a few weeks into their new daytime routine.

Lizzie smiled as she sunk her teeth into the flaky croissant Darcy had placed before her when he joined her on his break. “Things are going,” Lizzie began, thinking back to the pages of her Microsoft document. “They’re actually really pleasant.”

“Oh?” Darcy asked, settling in next to her on the couch. “Is that a surprise to you?”

“Well, it’s just. They were two completely different people coming from completely different places and backgrounds. At first it was just so easy for them to hate each other for all the differences that stood between them like duty and obligations and even magic, but I guess when certain people go through so much, they can’t help but end up changed after a while.” Lizzie explained, gesticulating wildly with her hands.

“So they don’t hate each other then? Are you regretful your story is straying from the path you initially wanted it to be?”

After a pause, Lizzie nodded. “Not at all. I think it’s hopeful.”

She delved back into her story for a bit while Darcy remained next to her, nursing a French vanilla latte while deep in thought. A few quiet minutes went by before Lizzie broke away from her novel and looked at Darcy again.

“I know you said you left before for school stuff, actuarial tests among other things. How much longer until you have to go back?”

Darcy looked surprised at her question. “Oh I won’t be going anywhere for a long while. No, I only left before because the test I had to take is only offered twice a year in either Los Angeles or New York. I didn’t really get much choice about having to leave.”

“I see,” Lizzie said. “So what else do you have to do for your degree?”

“Well now it’s mainly studying and taking these exams every now and then. I’m only working part time right now for a health insurance company, but I expect by the time my results come in from this latest exam I can become a full time employee.”

“So you’re just biding your time studying away like Lydia. I’ve never seen her so academic before.” Lizzie tried not to look too saddened by the fact that this regularity she had been getting used to wouldn’t last forever. Of course Darcy wouldn’t stay working at Netherfields forever serving her coffee, but the familiarity of her day with Darcy was becoming something nice for her to expect.

Darcy studied Lizzie’s face for a few seconds before blurting out, “Gigi and I have season tickets for the San Francisco Ballet Company. There’s a show tonight, Swan Lake, and I was wondering if you wanted to join us? It’s directed by Thomas Leroy; I’ve heard it’s fantastic.”

Lizzie looked at Darcy, surprised. “I’d love to! I mean if Gigi doesn’t mind me intruding on her brother and sister time, that is.”

Darcy ran his fingers nervously through his hair. “Well actually Gigi has other engagements tonight and is unable to attend. So it would be just you and I.”

“Okay, yeah. I’d really like that.” Lizzie said, suddenly distracted by the repeated buzzing of her cell phone. “Hold on, I should probably get this. Hello?”

“Oh thank god you’ve picked up Lizzie.” Charlotte’s frantic voice rang out from the other end of the line. “I think Lydia is in trouble.”

“Lydia? What? Did something happen? Is she okay?” Lizzie asked, her voice rising in panic. Darcy gave her a concerned look, his eyebrow crinkling with worry.

“Physically you could say she’s fine.” Charlotte started out. Before Lizzie could react, she felt a firm reassuring hand caress her tense back. Darcy’s fingers were slowly kneading down her spine, tracking the sudden spike she had of tension and worry.

“But here’s the bad news.” Charlotte went on. “Lydia told me that she’s scared to death she’s going to be expelled from college and banned from ever advancing in a career.”

“Why would Lydia think that? And no offense, why were you talking to her?”

Charlotte sighed before answering. “We’ve all read your blog Lizzie. Lydia knew exactly how you felt about certain people and things. She knew you would be upset and you weren’t exactly there to listen to her anyways.”

Lizzie tried to control her shoulders and stop them from shaking but there was nothing she could do but relax into Darcy’s hands and figure out how she could fix this broken relationship with her baby sister.

“Why is she scared to death of being expelled?”

“You’re not going to like this Lizzie, but please remember that your sister was the victim here. Please don’t rage out at her. The thing is, she’s been seeing George Wickham for the past few months. It’s not exactly unheard of for TA’s to be fraternizing with their students but what George did and is threatening to do was below the belt even for him.”

Lizzie gasped before asking, “What did he do?”

Charlotte hesitated. “He filmed him and Lydia doing sexually explicit things all the while Lydia was talking about psychology and how he better be giving her an A+ for all the extra credit she was putting in. Lydia didn’t honestly mean anything that she said about her grades but with the picture that George is painting, it looks as though he’s helping her pass the class because of sexual favors.”

Lizzie held her breath for a very long time. “Charlotte,” she said eventually. “I have to call you back. I need to help Lydia with this. It’s all my fault for not being there and I have to make it right.”

She hung up her phone with shaking hands and she quickly gathered up her stuff without giving Darcy a backwards glance, drawing out of his protective arms hastily.

“I have to go,” she said, wiping away tears that were leaking out of the corner of her eyes. “Of course you were right and now I have to go.”

“I was right? Lizzie you aren’t making any sense. What’s happened?” Darcy said, reaching out to hold her again.

“Lydia’s just being a stupid whorey slut again, just like you always knew. Just leave me alone!” Lizzie’s voice cracked with hysteria as she ran out of Netherfields like the hounds from hell were lapping at her heels.

~~~

Lizzie came home to her baby sister curled up in Lizzie’s bed crying and sniffling, her mascara running in rivulets down her face.

“Oh Lydia!” was all Lizzie could say before she wrapped herself around her sister and hugged tight. “It’s all my fault. I should have been here for you. I should have seen what was going on. I should have paid attention.”

Lydia sniffled as she dug her face into Lizzie’s bony collarbone. “You think this was your fault? Lizzie, I was there for this. I saw this happening. I could have stopped. I could have said no. But George always said that he loved me so how could I run from that?”

The two sisters wept until eventually they were joined by Jane and her magical tea and then the three of them set up camp in Lizzie’s room trying to figure out how to stop Lydia’s expulsion while continuing to play the blame game.

Against Lydia’s pleading, Jane and Lizzie both thought it would be best if they told their father the gist of what happened. He could be used as another ally to try to stop George’s plan before it went too far and innocent people got hurt. By the end of the night, the four of them agreed that the best move for them would be for Lydia to see the dean tomorrow and plead to drop out of university before the video came into question and to make it known that she is willing to test and prove her intelligence to show that she never meant to use George for his advantageous teaching position. It was the best argument they could think to come up with and they could only hope that it was enough.

That night it was pretty clear that none of the Bennet sisters slept as they all cuddled miserably in the depths of Lizzie’s bed as they waited for the judgmental light of the coming dawn.

~~~

Lizzie and Lydia approached the dean’s office with caution. Lizzie held onto Lydia for moral support; she had already abandoned her sister in her time of need once and Lizzie wasn’t ready for that to happen ever again.

Lydia rapped gently at the door and a curt “Come in!” was heard from the other side of the door. Lizzie opened the door for her sister and kept her arm on Lydia’s back to make sure she knew that she had support. The dean looked up at her through his bifocal lenses and nodded to himself.

“Ah Ms. Bennet. I thought I would probably have the pleasure of seeing you today.”

“Dean Pelton, I just wanted to let you know--”

But the dean cut her off before she could attempt to plead her case. “Ms. Bennet I would just like to say that everything has been taken care of and that George Wickham has already been removed from the premises.”

Lizzie was the first to recover from hearing the news. “Wait, so Lydia is okay? She’s not expelled? She’s not suspended? She can go to class again?”

The dean smiled at Lizzie and her concern. “Yes, Ms. Bennet. Everything has been cleared away and been explained thoroughly. But may I advise taking the day off at least from schoolwork? Emotional abuse is not a matter to be taken lightly and I do wish Ms. Bennet here all the best.”

Silent tears were trickling down Lydia’s face. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I’ll, um, I’ll just get out of your way then.”

Lizzie and Lydia left the office a confused mess of joy and they hardly made it back to their home before Lydia just collapsed on her own bed from exhaustion. Lizzie combed out her hair and gently changed her into her nightclothes before setting a fresh mug of tea by her bedside. She went down to her father’s study to relay the splendid news before sitting in her living room in wonderment at how everything came to be absolved.

She was jolted from her reverie when the doorbell rang. Lizzie rose and peeked through the curtains, shocked to find Gigi standing on the other end.

“Gigi?” Lizzie questioned as she reluctantly held the front door open.

“Lizzie! How are you?” she asked, tucking her bob behind her ear.

“Um, okay, I guess. Did I miss something? Did I know that you were coming?”

Gigi laughed, the sound a welcome noise to the Bennet household. “No, no silly. I’m wondering if Lydia is in though?”

“Lydia? Yeah, she’s upstairs.”

Before Lizzie could say anything else, Gigi gently pushed past her and marched purposefully upstairs. Since when were Gigi and Lydia friends? Lizzie decided that her brain was too tired to really process that kind of information and she decided that if nothing else, writing always cleared her mind. She was focusing on the climax of her story when the doorbell rang again. Lizzie felt as if her home has never had quite this many visitors before.

Swinging the door wide open revealed one very happy Bing Lee.

“Bing?” Lizzie gasped, taking in the sight of the man who had partially broken her sister’s heart. Only partially because Lizzie felt that Darcy deserved at least half the blame.

“Lizzie! Wow! It’s so good to see you again!”

“Does Jane know you’re back?” Lizzie blurted out before Bing talked any louder. Jane had a keen sense of hearing and she wasn’t sure if her sister would be okay with Bing just dropping by whenever he pleased after that night so many months ago.

Lizzie felt a delicate palm on her shoulder. “Yes Jane knows Bing is back,” her older sister smiled down at her. “But she does appreciate your concern.”

“Wait, you knew that Bing was coming over? That he was back? That Darcy meddled where his thumb head didn’t belong?”

“Yes Lizzie, I am aware. I do read your blog you know,” she said before punching her lightly on the shoulder. “Anyways, after Darcy got a hold of Bing, it didn’t take Bing very long to call me.”

“How long has all these secret affairs been going on? How come nobody ever tells me anything anymore?” Lizzie had never felt more out of the loop.

Jane laughed, looping her arm through Bing’s. “Lizzie, you didn’t need any more unnecessary drama in your life. Like I said before – I read your blog and I know how much you fixate on everyone else’s problems but your own. You have a novel to write! You have your own romantic interests to pursue! Bing and I didn’t want to get in the way of you living your life.”

Lizzie huffed. “You make me sound so nosy.”

Jane just ruffled Lizzie’s hair. “Not nosy, just concerned. You’re not the only one around here who has to look out for other people! You need to finish grad school and live the life you always dreamed of. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

“Fine, as long as there are no more secrets! I was worried sick that maybe Bing just never got back to you or that you had changed too much and didn’t want to get back with him. There’s just been a lot of time to think when people keep you in the dark.” Lizzie explained.

“Well, we’re sorry to keep you worried.” Bing apologized, looking more sincere than a Hallmark card.

“And hey! Just know that you weren’t the only one we didn’t tell. Mom was just as blissfully unaware as you.” Jane said before pulling Bing up the stairs to her room.

Hardly a minute passed before Gigi and Lydia came scampering down the stairs, their fingers intertwined and their cheeks rosy.

“I’ll call you, okay?” Lydia said before kissing Gigi delicately on the lips. She pulled away gently and tucked some of Gigi’s hair behind her ear.

Gigi beamed and waved to Lizzie on the way out before closing the door behind her. Lizzie turned to Lydia, her eyebrow raised expectantly.

“Gigi helped me through some stuff okay? It turns out I wasn’t the only one George was able to coerce in his time as a TA.” Lydia explained nonchalantly, slowly stroking the part of her palm that Gigi had been holding.

Lizzie smiled at her maturing little sister. “Just as long as you’re happy.”

She was about to head back upstairs to curl up and watch depressing movies all night to match her romantic mood in relation to her sisters but Lydia stopped her short.

“I just thought you should know that it was Darcy who told on George to the Dean. Apparently he asked Gigi for Charlotte’s number after you left and said it was urgent. You must’ve really looked awful; Gigi said she couldn’t even be bothered to tease him about you he looked so ashen, unsure of what made you storm off like that.”

“Darcy called Charlotte?” Lizzie said incredulously.

“Yeah, she was the one who told you about this whole mess, right? He called her and found out what happened and he fixed it. I mean, I know he doesn’t hate me or anything but I don’t think he helped me out just from the goodness of his heart. I know you wrote that he once loved you, but are you sure he still doesn’t?” Lydia asked, raising Lizzie’s chin so that she looked her in the eye.

Lizzie stammered. “I blew any sort of chance we had Lydia, or did you skip over that post? I’m pretty sure if anything we’re just friends. We already had our chance.”

Lydia nodded sadly. “I thought I was out of chances too you know. With George and everything. But sometimes life has a funny way of working out.”

Lizzie mulled over her sister’s words, wondering when exactly Lydia got so smart. They wove in and out of her dreams and haunted her, leaving her aching for something she was sure she would never have.

~~~

Lizzie wasn’t going to go to Netherfields. She was embarrassed that Darcy had to come and rescue her from all her woes and problems and she really didn’t want to see his kind face and know that he was nothing more than just a friend. He was a generous soul that her family owed so much gratitude for she could hardly think that they could ever repay him for how he helped Lydia. But Jane wasn’t having any of it.

“Lizzie Bennet if you aren’t downstairs in five minutes I will,” Jane paused from her proclamation. “I will, I will--”

She was cut off by Lydia. “Jane will start deleting your novel one chapter at a time from your hard drive.”

“Lydia! I don’t think I could actually do that!” Jane called out.

“Oh but don’t think that I won’t!” Lydia belted out before flinging open Lizzie’s door and jerking her sister from her night of insomnia.

“Fine, fine! I get it! I’ll go!” Lizzie said, snatching a green lace top from her floor and yanking it over her wavy sleep tousled hair.

“She’s coming!” Lydia yelled to Jane and Lizzie swore she heard Jane clap in excitement.

Jane and Lizzie were out the door but four minutes later, Lizzie grumbling the whole way.

“You know he helped Lydia because he’s just a nice person right? There was no romantic implication behind his actions.” Lizzie pleaded.

Jane looked at her and smiled. “I’m not just taking you there so you and Darcy can talk and share in a hot steaming pot of unresolved sexual tension. I’m taking you there because Bing is back!”

“But what about medical school?”

“Medical school? Oh Bing dropped out of that months ago.”

“But then what has he been doing all this time?”

“Oh he’s still helping people, just not in a hospital setting. He’s been working with a homeless shelter in Los Angeles for a while, learning how he can teach and help the troubled youth on the street. He’s going to be taking teens in and showing them how to work and help out in Netherfields.” Jane explained, blushing as she talked.

Lizzie smiled softly at her sister. “Really? That sounds like the perfect job for him.”

“Yeah, I know his parents weren’t too pleased and nothing can even begin to describe Caroline’s anger and hatred for her brother’s actions, but he’s happy and I’m happy for him and it really just couldn’t be any better.”

Lizzie hugged Jane around the shoulder and sighed. “I know that everything seems to have fallen into place but there’s just one thing that I have to know.”

Jane looked at her quizzically.

“It’s just, Darcy mentioned a final straw that proved to him that perhaps you and Bing take a break at the film festival. What was it? What exactly happened?”

“Oh, that,” Jane started rolling her eyes. “You remember that I had taken Colin that night? You see, he was pining for months over our manager Bradley but he felt that nothing he did ever really caught his attention so he kissed me right in front of Bradley to make him jealous – you know how ridiculous people in love can be.”

“So the kiss didn’t mean anything to you?” Lizzie had to ask.

“No Lizzie, I only have eyes for Bing. Plus Colin is gay and currently dating Bradley. It all worked out really.” Jane had stopped talking and she stood by the front doorway to Netherfields. “Ready Lizzie?”

Lizzie could smell the rich coffee aroma and instantly knew that it was now or never. “Sure.”

Darcy waved at the two of them walking in, cups of coffee in hand already prepared for Lizzie. Jane went over to the counter by Bing while Darcy walked around and nodded for Lizzie to join him in her writing corner.

“Darcy, I don’t think I can even explain how grateful Lydia and my whole family are for what you did for us.” Lizzie started out, sniffing at the coffee he handed her.

He smiled as he settled in next to her on the couch, their knees lightly brushing. “While I accept your family’s gratitude, I feel slightly guilty. It’s not your family that I did this for, Lizzie. I did it for you.”

“For me? Why?”

“Because you were clearly upset and I knew that I could help. I couldn’t stand to see someone like George Wickham get the best of yet another person I care about.” Darcy said, peering into her eyes.

“Someone you care about?” Lizzie stuttered.

“Yes. Which is why I admit to being confused. You had said on your blog that we aren’t even friends, how could it be that I was helping you out? And I thought about it and I suppose we really aren’t friends.”

“Oh but I want to!” she blurted out, “you know, be friends.”

Lizzie was confused by the crestfallen look that swept quickly across Darcy’s face.

“Unless, I mean,” she said uncertainly, trying to interpret the emotions flitting across his face.

He bit at the corner of his bottom lip before taking her small hands in his. “Lizzie, I just wanted you to know that my feelings for you haven’t changed from before. In fact, I’d say they were stronger.”

Darcy looks up at her shyly and seeing him peer up at her through his eyelashes after baring her his heart gave her the confidence she needed to make herself clear.

“Darcy, I just want--” And she drew her face across the short distance to his and pressed her chapped lips gently against his own. He sighed ever so lightly and his lips parted as Lizzie angled her face to match his.

Lizzie pulled away a few inches and Darcy slowly opened his eyes. She looked into the deep blue abyss and confessed, “I hope that I’m making myself clear. I really don’t want to be just friends with you William Darcy.”

He looked at her so earnestly and full of want, Lizzie blushed deeply and she had to blink to make sure it was all real. “Well, I’m sure that there are a few points that need clarification, but I think I’ve got the idea.”

Darcy let his hand trail over the side of Lizzie’s face, grazing against her ear as he tucked her red hair behind it. Lizzie grabbed hold of the gray tie he was sporting and pulled him in for another kiss, this time leaving behind the chastity and hesitation. Her fingers combed through his short brown hair, the strands by the nape of his neck downy soft and all hers. She opened her mouth slightly as his hands made their way to the small of Lizzie’s back after skimming delicately over each knob in her spine. Her teeth gently nipped his bottom lip and she felt him smiling in satisfaction as a soft moan escaped his throat. Lizzie opened her eyes and studied the soft lashes resting on Darcy’s face, fanning out onto his high cheekbones. Gently, Darcy let his lips trail over to Lizzie’s ear, licking her cheeks lightly, peppering them with small butterfly kisses.

“I’ve heard from Gigi you’re a big fan of sock slides,” he teased, carding her locks of red hair through his fingers. “And I happen to know for a fact my flat is the perfect place to experiment.”

Lizzie laughed gently. “Say no more and lead me to this sock slide palace,” she whispered.

~~~

Darcy laced his fingers with Lizzie’s as he led her up to his penthouse suite, both of them taking in the view of the city from within the glass elevator. He punched in a key code on a pad outside his door and swung it wide open to lead Lizzie inside.

“Now, you’ll see here this entry hallway looks to be an extremely promising place to start a sock slide, but that would be where you would be wrong Lizzie Bennet.” Darcy murmured, leading her in with one hand pressed against the base of her spine.

“I would be wrong? What exactly is it that you are implying then?”

“I’m just saying, there happens to be this nice stretch from the kitchen that goes all the way into the master bedroom that’s easily three times as long and at least twice as slippery to work with.”

Lizzie paused and looked up at Darcy. “A sock slide that ends in the master bedroom you say? I must admit, I do see your point.”

“Do you now?” he said, nuzzling the side of her neck.

She smiled as she leaned into him before abruptly turning around to face Darcy. “Of course. Except these clothes,” she started in on his waistcoat, “really have to go,” she said while unbuttoning his vest, “for aerodynamic purposes.”

Darcy was down to just his dress shirt and trousers and an infectious grin spreading across his face. “I think that two can play that game, Lizzie.”

He slipped one hand of his in the back pocket of Lizzie’s jeans while the other hand worked at unfastening the front button on her pants. Slowly he pulled down the short zipper and eased the waistband down over her slim hips. He squeezed her ass tight before removing his hands and letting her wiggle the rest of the way out. She flung her jeans behind him and they landed somewhere far down the entrance hall. Darcy hardly had time to notice before he felt a gentle tugging at his belt. Unable to withhold the sexual tension any longer, Lizzie quickly slipped her hand inside Darcy’s trousers before his belt was fully unhinged. His hardening cock was straining against the soft cotton of his boxers and Darcy leaned into her touch, pushing against her delicate hand.

Before things could progress any farther, she slipped her hand out and gave Darcy a cheeky wink. “There’s more where that came from.”

He looked at her in mock scorn before taking his belt from her hand and undoing it with the ease of repetition. Lizzie slowly teased her fingers on the zipper of Darcy’s pants, but his cock was pushing up against the ridge uncomfortably so Lizzie deftly undid the top button and yanked his pants down without further ado. Darcy stepped out and left his pants behind as he slowly cornered Lizzie and pushed her up against the wall by his kitchen. His fingers gripped tightly at her exposed hipbones as he ground his cock against her thigh.

Lizzie reached up to cup his face gently and to bring Darcy’s tender mouth down to hers as she hitched her legs up around his waist. She smashed her lips into his unkindly this time, the tight heat between their two bodies accelerating her heart and her desire. Her hands rucked through his hair as he gripped her thighs and massaged them into his body. Lizzie’s lips fell open in a gasp as Darcy slipped a cool hand under her panties and onto her bare ass. Darcy’s tongue edged into Lizzie’s mouth as he began to lick the back of her teeth in earnest, rubbing his hands over her body if only to elicit more breathy moans from her lips.

The heat and the friction between their two bodies, while intense, wasn’t fully explored. Lizzie reluctantly unhooked her thighs to create a small window of space between her and Darcy. She pawed eagerly at his dress shirt, her fingers flying from button to button trying to free him from the shirts constraints. Eventually Darcy tugged it off over his head, taking his undershirt with him. His bare chest was an open canvas for Lizzie to caress and explore, his muscles taut and the planes of his torso smooth and angular. She was right about her initial observation of his body – Darcy was built like an athlete but he wasn’t one to get all sweaty and chase after some useless ball. Instead he was a man who studied and read Russian literature and who most importantly knew how to brew the perfect cup of coffee.

Darcy’s hands were groping over the surface of Lizzie’s shirt, his fingers splayed across where her ribcage was, trying to figure out how exactly it was meant to be taken off. Lizzie let him fumble around a while more while she latched her kiss-swollen mouth to a patch of soft skin right below Darcy’s left earlobe. She sucked his skin hard enough to bruise and she kissed it softly and lightly when she was done before slowly lowering her hands to undo the zipper on the side of her green top. Darcy chuckled when he finally saw how her complicated Anthropologie top worked before he tugged it lightly over the top of her head. He smoothed out her red hair before skating his fingers lightly over her pale skin.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that to you, Lizzie,” Darcy murmured before moving away from her slightly. Suddenly, without warning, Darcy swooped his arms behind the back of Lizzie’s legs and her spine and he picked her up as you would a small child, and cradled her in his arms. Lizzie wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him curiously.

“If you want to learn how to sock slide here, you really should learn it from a professional,” he informed her before taking a slight running start and skidding down the length of his hallway, not stopping until he crashed into the foot of his bed, Lizzie landing gently on top of his plaid comforter, giggling the whole time.

“So you’re a real professional then?” Lizzie said coyly.

Darcy’s eyes smoldered as he gently lowered himself on top of her. “I’d like to think so.”

He ground his still throbbing cock against Lizzie’s wet panties as his lips pressed down on her collarbone, covering every inch with sweet little butterfly kisses. Lizzie’s hands grazed across his ribs and shoulder blades before she reached her hands behind her back and deftly unhooked her navy blue bra. She flung it to the floor carelessly as Darcy’s mouth went from the hollow of her throat down her clavicle all the way to her navel. Slowly Darcy’s hands worked their way up from her hipbones to her breasts, cupping them as he brought his mouth to hers. Lizzie moved her hands to grab Darcy’s ass and slowly, she worked the waistband of his boxers down, freeing his hardened cock as she flung his underwear down to join her bra on the floor. She shimmied out of own panties shortly after, moaning into Darcy’s touch as his fingers pinched at her erect nipples. Their skin was finally flush with each other, heat radiating from every pore.

Slowly, Lizzie pushed up against Darcy and they sat up on his bed, his thighs straddling her center. Lizzie gently pushed out from underneath him and stepped down onto the cold hardwood floor.

“You can’t honestly tell me you’re stopping this to slide around in your socks?” Darcy moaned, falling onto his back, splayed across the bedspread.

“Well,” Lizzie started, pausing for a few seconds. “I did have a few things in mind, but I don’t think you’d object.”

She knelt down carefully at the edge of his bed and her breath ghosted over Darcy’s erect cock, the precum glistening at the tip. She ran her tongue lightly along the underside before covering the tip with her whole mouth, taking Darcy’s shuddering groans as a sign of encouragement. She slowly lowered her mouth over his length, placing her hands at the base as she hollowed out her cheeks. Her tongue lapped at his shaft and looked up at him under heavily-lidded eyes. Darcy looked absolutely wrecked, his cheeks flushed and his pupils blown. Staring down at her with her dainty mouth stretched across his cock, he was brought nearly to ecstasy. Lizzie, however, had other plans and she pulled her mouth away from him with an obscene pop.

“I’m not quite done with you yet,” she murmured, climbing on top of his prone body, straddling him at the hips.

Darcy’s fingers delicately traced paths down from her navel to her thighs, not quite yet reaching towards her cunt. Lizzie leaned back on her heels, her back resting against Darcy’s knees. Ever so slowly, Darcy’s fingers wavered along her inner thighs, brushing lightly over her opening, preparing her for what was next. He stretched his arms out behind him to reach into his nightstand to snatch up a condom. Lizzie opened it with her teeth and slid it over Darcy’s head with ease. He looked at her, absolutely smitten that she was finally his to have and to hold and to cherish. Slowly, Lizzie slid down, Darcy’s cock piecing together with her own body like a puzzle. She looked at him with adoration the whole time, hardly even wincing when his whole length stretched out inside of her. Feeling the need to increase the friction between them, Lizzie started to rock her hips into Darcy as he held on tightly to her hipbones, hard enough that she was sure there would be bruises in the morning.

Together, their bodies melded into each other, rocking against one another in earnest. Darcy’s hips snapped up faster and faster as he was quickly approaching his orgasm. Lizzie clenched her thighs as she felt Darcy repeatedly hit her sensitive spot. Her voice was spouting off sweet nothings as her speech was rendered useless, her arms trying to maintain a grip on the sweaty sheets around them. Darcy kept whispering her name into the space between them, thrusting up one final time before his nerves exploded in the pleasure of a thousand supernovas. He lost sight of Lizzie as his vision went white, the waves of bliss crashing down on his body. Lizzie gently lifted off of his softening cock and she took off the used condom, knotted it, and tossed it to the floor. She collapsed on top of Darcy’s broad torso, her head tucked into the crook of his neck.

She looked up at him, his face pink with happiness and ecstasy. “I hope that clarified a few more things for you, William Darcy.”

His blue eyes looked down at her affectionately. “I’d say things are looking pretty crystal clear to me.”

Lizzie leaned her body up slightly, bringing her lips to the outer shell of Darcy’s ear. “I love you too, you prat.”

Darcy kissed her forehead and stroked her hair with a content sigh. His eyes fell on a small gift bag in the corner of his room by his wardrobe. “I forgot, but I think Gigi honestly left you a bag full of socks she made at some sort of craft night over there.”

“Presents?” Lizzie slowly disengaged herself from Darcy’s warm and tender embrace to scamper over to Gigi’s bag. She dumped it upside down and picked up one of the knitted objects inside along with a note. Her eyes scanned the words quickly and she slowly looked more and more horrified. Darcy raised an eyebrow. “Nope. Not socks. Cock cozies. Nope. Nope. Nope. I did not just see these. Your innocent sister did not make those. Nope.”

Lizzie quickly ran back to bed where Darcy had moved to make room for the both of them under the covers. She snuggled in next to him and simply lay there, unable to process that she was able to have a happily ever after ending.

“You never did tell me how your story ended.” Darcy asked, rubbing lightly at Lizzie’s forearm.

Lizzie grinned. “Well, despite all the hatred and animosity between the servant and the prince, they found out that really they were the best of friends. And eventually they realized they were even more than that. They lived happily ever after, completely and totally in love.”

Darcy kissed her lightly on the lips. “It sounds perfect.”

fin.


End file.
